Sunday, December 20, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
New GM
Let’s hope that this is not just spin because if America is to ever return to the times when “Made in America” meant quality wherever you went, we have to be more than a ‘service economy.’
America has to produce things again.
And we can’t do that without a competitive General Motors.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Growing Backward
Bowen Designs makes some of the best as far as I am concerned, though there are a few other makers out there as well. Collecting them combines two of my favorite passions: My on-again, off-again love affair with comics, and staturary. My latest bust (to be part of a Moving Picture Show slideshow soon) is of Whirlwind (He of the green helmet above. Speaking of which, I have no idea why he wears it. I always assumed that it was because the centrifugal forces generated by his vortex would deprive him of oxygen without some way of protecting himself).
He’s a villain, and one of my earliest exposures to superheroes. He is literally a living whirlwind, his lower half a roiling funnel of air, propelling him forward at terrific speeds.
Perhaps the idea of a man that controls tornadoes is silly, but when you’re nine or ten years old reading about such beings, it makes perfect sense.
And strangely enough, despite growing up, it still makes sense.
Someone said that when you get older, you have to discard childish things. As far as I am concerned, to give up what make the child in you happy is to not get older, but to get old.
Give me Peter Pan any day.
Monday, June 1, 2009
By The Way
And in case anyone is curious, ‘schadenfreude’ means, essentially, that one digs another’s misfortune. The dictionary didn’t say, but as far as I am concerned, ‘prick’ defines such a person much more succinctly.
I should also mention that I stand corrected on the crash-worthiness of Smart cars. Here’s a video of a crash test of a Smart Twofor. It does pretty well.
Could Someone Explain To Me
The story of the film, while at first fascinating, grows more and more fantastic as the film progress, much to it’s detriment; though that is not really what I am writing about. Mr. Kassovitz has a keen eye and teams with a really good cinematographer, Thierry Abrogast (whose style reminds me somewhat of Dean Cundey) to produce a sharp, crisp image on screen that–while the gore reminds this viewer of David Fincher’s Seven–differs in that Seven was very dreary and deliberately understated while Crimson Rivers is just the opposite, despite having a relatively restrained color palate.
In The Crimson Rivers Mr. Kassovitz displays a sense of place, of topography, that’s remarkable in that it makes some of the surrounding areas of France become virtually characters in the film. This is what I mean. He handles scale very well, and unlike Michael Bay, doesn’t seem to let the spectacle of a particular situation overwhelm human stories.
Which reminds me, I need to add Babylon AD to my Netflix queue, partially because Mr. Kassovitz directed it, partially because the film is supposed to be a virtual tutorial about what happens when a studio doesn’t let a director do what he was hired to do, namely direct.
The picture of Matthieu Kassovitz above came from Abelhudos.wordpress.com
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Summertime
Life can be infinitely more complex, but why would anyone want it to be?
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Mental Health Saturday
Besides, between school and work I noticed that I am often racing around like some kinds of lunatic. I actually enjoy the activity, but know that there is more to my life than the chaos that surrounds me.
Down for Maintenance
Thursday, May 28, 2009
A Woman's Work
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The Crossing (don't go into the light)
While that is good advice, for some reason I chose to ignore it today. This is probably because Bizarro, a comic by Dan Piraro, and Pooch Café, by Paul Guilligan, were particularly funny. So, as I read, I got closer and closer to the corner of East-West Highway and was about to cross over to Colesville Road. As I stepped into the street–still reading, by the way–a Honda Accord whizzed by, no more than five or six inches from slamming into me.
The light had not yet went green (it did a few seconds later. The car probably had sped up to make it before it changed).
Luckily I’m young enough to remember what it felt like to be invincible, but old enough to know that it isn’t so.
Despite occasionally walking and reading.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Dropping Class (still waters)
And while I hate catch-up, there’s more to it than that.
I also hate being ‘that guy.’ You know, the guy who seems clueless about what’s going on around him, the guy who has to get by guile and charm (not to pat myself on the back, but I can be when I need to) because the perception is that he cannot tow the load.
I think that I see this type of person a lot, and cannot stand the idea that that person is sometimes looking back at me from the mirror.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Unproven Speculation (talking out of my arse)
Sunday, May 24, 2009
American Health Care
Though for some this is purely a hypothetical argument. By that I mean if you have no problems with your health or the quality of care you receive, the problems I refer to are things that happen to someone else.
This is a perspective that I get the feeling is common among our political class as well.
This was brought home to me when I met an acquaintance that I had not seen in awhile. He said that he was in the hospital, after he had pains in his abdomen that refused to go away.
Eventually it was discovered that he had an appendicitis, and it was removed.
Now here is where things get wonky. The surgeon who preformed the surgery requested that my friend come back for a follow-up visit.
The first appointment had to be rescheduled because the surgeon could not make it–as to why I am not sure, my friend did not make this clear–and another appointment was made.
Which the surgeon also missed.
My friend is not a native of this country (he may be applying for citizenship, but I don’t know for certain), but that doesn’t excuse how shabbily he was treated.
Do you literally have to be running around on fire–or be very rich–to get quality health care in this country?
Saturday, May 23, 2009
New Look
The Gideon Plan
What caught my attention was that the Gideons also distribute bibles to the military. This is bothersome to me because recently the American Army in Pakistan was playing a similar role in Afganistan, which is not their job.
Here’s video from Al-Jazeera:
I Saw
Friday, May 22, 2009
Who Are These 'Gideons' And Why Do They Leave Bibles In Hotel Rooms?
Who knows? I might be curious about some other religion. If that happens to be the case it would be really good if I could just open a drawer, and find a copy.
Though if hotels start to include the holy books from other religions, I still don’t know if they should include that from Scientologists because they haven’t in my view reached the critical mass of believers necessary to move beyond cult status.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
UFO News!
And if those two wishes pan out, then perhaps Mr. Anderson will get the resources he needs to bring Eternity to the small screen.
Time To Move On, Part 2
In fact, his presence in the movie doesn’t seem to have any other purpose than to introduce audiences to the potential heir to Indy’s bullwhip, as opposed to creating a character that actually ‘exists,’ lives and breathes.
If so, this franchise is doomed because Harrison Ford is getting on in years (and doesn’t appear to be aging as nearly as well as Sean Connery, who, ironically, played his father in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; which tells you how long it takes for these films to come together) and Shia isn’t (yet) the box office draw that Harrison Ford is, though I would like to see him in a film that was less of a summer blockbuster-type film and more of a character piece because I am not entirely sure that he can act.
Then there’s the script. Shia appears to be attempting to speak in the fashion of the period, and comes off as someone who is OBVIOUSLY ATTEMPTING to speak in the fashion of the period he’s in, as opposed to someone that actually exists in the time period who happens to be talking.
It may sound like I am picking nits here, but it really makes a difference. For example, think about Martin Scorsese films like Casino and Goodfellas. The dialog rings true, and plays well on the ear. By way of contrast, when Shia speaks in City of the Crystal Skull, it just sounds awkward and false.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Time To Move On, Part 1
At the time, a critic–whose review The Google cannot even seem to find–thought that Dragonslayer was the better film, and one reason I recall him writing that was that he believed that Raiders was “machine-tooled” which I took to mean lacking in heart and passion.
And while I also enjoyed Dragonslayer, I also thought that Raiders of the Lost Ark was an enjoyable, edge-of-your-seat adventure.
Though after seeing Indiana Jones and the City of the Crystal Skull (or Indy 4) recently on DVD, I think that the reviewer was referring to this film, despite the fact that the review came thirty years too late.
While it starts promisingly, Indy 4 quickly went downhill, turning silly (and considering that they were searching for a crystal skull–which is what the aliens in the film are underneath their skin, according to the story–is saying a lot)
That being said, there were some curious decisions made by all those involved. First off, why were the villains made to be Russians? I guess after using Nazis, crazed Indians, and ambitious Britons, there were few nationalities left (?), though it feels more like desperation than inspiration.
Then there’s a scene that takes place at Area 51, of Roswell fame.
Now keep in mind, this was the storage place of the Ark of the Covenant, the artifact that caused all that trouble in the original Raiders; yet in that film there was no mention–that I can recall–that the Ark was being stored at Area 51.
This would have been worth a few geek points, at the very least; though it does remind me about what bothers me about films that George Lucas tends to be involved with.
Namely, he has this tendency to revise, to alter history, within his films. This is the reason I suspect that some were put off by his changes to the digital effects and the addition of scenes in his original Star Wars trilogy.
The technology available for the latter Star Wars films was not present for the first three, so why Mr. Lucas felt the need to alter effects that were at the time ‘state of the art’ is beyond me.
Quality Inn
The ‘cable television’ part, not the lazing around, that is.
After staying in that room for only a night, when I got back to my apartment it looked as if a bomb had gone off. Though to be fair the piles of clothing on the floor of my apartment I had made with the intention of going to the laundry–they were divided into whites, colors, and colds–but I was locked out before I was able to do so.
Though keep in mind, that other than the mounds of clothing on the floor, my apartment was at the point of what I like to call ‘acceptable clutter’ (which I define as having stuff out of place, but not so much that you would be ashamed to have a parent over).
Who am I kidding; if I had an inkling that my parents were in the city, never mind my apartment, I would be hiding the porn and putting everything away just so.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Customer Care
And it goes without saying that whatever the purpose is that you’re calling for, it’s going to be the last option presented. So you have to sit for what feels like an eternity till you option comes up.
In my book Fed Ex is has almost made this form of torture–I mean “enhanced interrogation” an art form.
This is why the latest commercial from Apple particularly resonates with me. It’s titled ‘Customer Care’ and it’s the only commercial I have seen that knows what that feeling is like.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Apple Knows All
Now keep in mind, this is a company known for their industrial design, so it’s pretty interesting that they would mess up something as integral to the music experience as the headphone.
Guess what? They didn’t.
I can’t speak for everyone that had problems with the comfort and wearability of Apple’s standard headphone (now the sound quality is another matter. it’s by no means bad but could be improved with perhaps greater bass response. As it stands the sound is relatively warm with decent high and low ends) but my problems were due to human error, as opposed to industrial design.
When I wore them in the past I would try to insert the earphone (the round section) into the opening of my ear canal, like below, in an attempt to seal my ear canal with the headphone and isolating me more from outside noises.
Of course this did not work, since it was not designed to be used in this manner. During my run I tried it like this:
Notice that the second method that the round section of the headphone is supported by my ear, and is actually very secure. And keep in mind, my routine includes sprinting as well as jumping, so if I say that this was secure I mean it and it would be perfect for anyone just walking about.
My only issues were that sometimes sweat would run into my ear canal, muting the sound from my left earphone.
Friday, May 15, 2009
I Am Sorry...
Namely remarkable, seemingly unending pain.
This movie was one of the worse I had seen in quite awhile. I generally don’t leave a movie, be it on television or in the theater, but I was sorely tempted. Instead I just commented–a lot–on how unbearably silly this movie was.
Nothing seemed to make sense and characters seemed to do really dumb things as a matter of course.
And there was Optimus Prime and his moving mouth, which is a blog post all it’s own.
Now keep in mind, this is a movie about sentient robots from a world called Cybertron. I easily suspended my disbelief in reference to that, yet I can be pushed only so far.
Why am I writing this? Because I met an acquaintance at the gym earlier today, and he seems extremely psyched that Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen, is coming out soon.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I haven’t forgiven Michael Bay for bringing us the first one, never mind the sequel. I mean, it boggles my mind that this film wasn’t brilliant. I mean, there were tons of robots. Skating robots, robots that turn into cars, fighter planes, scorpions, and so on.
How do you mess that up? I mean, you just let Industrial Light & Magic do their thing, sit back, and just rake in the dough.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Walking on Glass
Otherwise, I choke, literally and figuratively. And when that happens a paralysis–of sorts–sets in and my movements become very tentative; I am overwhelmed by caution.
This is why I am creating momentum–in this case, continuing with school–and letting it carry me forward. I honestly believe that most of us have great destinies ahead of us, but like anything else, it is not an easy path, smooth and without risk. Besides, the field of Journalism is currently undergoing a transition, and this is not a time to be out there searching for work. I mean, the field is hemorrhaging jobs like a character from a Sean Cunningham film. That being the case–and let’s be honest, I knew that well in advance–why did I major in Journalism in the first place?
One reason is that I like writing, and this was a way to make it ‘real.’ I don’t do a lot of writing at work (if truth be told, virtually none) and i had to move to make it real.
Invest something.
Take a risk because there are no guarantees that what I am doing will bear fruit, But then again, if I do nothing, I unequivocally know where I would be.
I am not very religious, but I do believe in Hell. Not the whole “red dude with a pitchfork” type of Hell, which to be honest is rather silly, though it did frighten me when I was a child. Instead the Hell I believe in is the one we make of our own lives right now.
I believe that we are all eternal, in the sense that we are creatures of energy made manifest, and energy never dies. Instead it changes form, alters frequency, and goes on.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Sometimes You Can't Go Home Again
---William Butler Yeats
The quote above I recall principally from the book ‘Things Fall Apart’ by Chinua Achebe, which I encountered when I served in the Peace Corps, along with ‘The River Between’ by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o (forgive me for not including umlauts in ‘Ngugi.’ There are two, though I have not found out the keyboard commands to do so yet). I have tried to read The River Between again a few years ago, to perhaps capture the feeling that I got from the first reading, but it wasn’t there.
I think that I am about to start it again tomorrow, but this time I will read it on it’s own terms, let it create memories and associations anew, instead of imposing those upon it that exist in a space and time long past.
In other words, I am going to read it again, for the first time.
Because sometimes you can’t go home again, but that only means that you have to make where you are now, home.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sometimes You're The Guy (Or Gal)
Usually I somewhat smugly sit in silent judgement over such people, as if on some level I was convinced of their actions being the result of a lack of some essential motivating force, or perhaps moral turpitude manifesting in a flaw that lie hidden just below the surface, till now.
Conversely, this enhanced my own feelings of rightness.
Such thoughts never left the privacy of my head, though I imagine that a perceptive person could have picked up on some reveal in the way I held my head, or the tilt of my mouth.
That is, till for a moment I became that person.
I was on the way to work, and the train had stopped at Fort Totten Station where I transfer from the Red to the Green Line; the next to last leg of my daily commute to work. There’re three escalators, one that leads to an upper level, which is soon followed by two more that lead to opposite ends of of the Red Line tracks. As I got on the escalator on the right, I looked up, and saw a flash of light on the grey concrete canopy that covered the platform against weather as the motorized staircase bore me upward.
I had seen this flash of light before, and I always connected it with the arrival of a train.
There were numerous people ahead of me, all of which happened to be women. From my perspective, none of the seemed particularly cognizant of the fact that a train had just pulled into the station.
Or perhaps they were taking the Red Line in the opposite direction, in which case that the train had pulled into the station going in the my way didn’t matter.
Though at that moment I wanted few things more than to catch that train. I knew that my feeling were somewhat irrational, though I had to film a presentation at work, and didn’t want to be late.
So I forced my way forward, engaging in way too much contact with these ladies as I tried to get around them.
I made the train, as did some of the women who were a few steps ahead of me, though my actions so shamed me that I did not sit anywhere near them.
Because, for a small moment, I had become those people I thought so little of.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Will Someone Please...
This guy is too funny, and still seems relatively shocked that what is happening to him (namely becoming a staple on the Jimmy Kimmel Show), which means that he probably isn’t acting like a dick as his relatively new-found fame rises to his head faster than cheap domestic beer moves through your system.
And while you’re at it Hollywood, consider this lady, whose name happens to be Stephanie Courtney, as well. She seems like she would be just perfect as the ’wacky friend’ on a sitcom.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Bear With Me A Moment
I mean, it’s not like there’s anyone out there with hair like Medusa (pictured on the right) who had hair so alive that it literally had a life of its own.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Tumblin'
Which, unfortunately I did not clear.
A variation of this had happened once before: I was running in Belgium, though a beautiful forest. I was approaching some posts, and before I knew what was happening I was on my arse. What had happened was that those posts that I mentioned earlier had wire strung between them. I was running in a park with lots of foliage, so I could not see them.
Luckily, I fell to the grass, which absorbed the impact of the fall, tumbled head over foot, then came to my feet and kept on running. Unfortunately a pair of headphones I was wearing got caught on the fence, breaking them. Luckily they were Ear Pollution headphones by iFrogz–which not only are not very durable, but they come with a somewhat substandard warranty. My advice is in reference to them is that if you need headphones, save up for some Shures, which are not only awesome headphones, but extremely durable–though what amazed me most about the moment was that, instead of caring about what the people around me might saw me challenging the laws of gravity, I kept moving. What interested me most was that I barely noticed the impact.
Though I was very fortunate to fall to the grass, I noticed that the impact was on my right arm almost entirely, so if I had fallen on a harder surface I like to think that the impact would have been not too bad.
Though it would have hurt.
A lot.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Twist On A Old Theme
Dear Friend,
My name is Major,Amy Robinson. I am an American soldier with Swiss background,
serving in the military with the army 3rd infantry division.With a very
desperate need for assistance, I have summed up courage to contact you. I found
your contact particulars in an address journal. I am seeking your kind
assistance to move the sum of ( $ 3.2 million u.s.dollars )three million, two
hundred united states dollars to you, as far as I can be assured that my share
will be safe in your care until I complete my service here, this is no stolen
money, and there are no danger involved. I am presently in a hospital
recovering from injuries sustained in a suicide bomb attack.
Source of money:
Some money in various currencies was discovered in barrels at a farmhouse near
one of Saddam's old palaces in Tikrit-Iraq during a rescue operation, and
it was agreed by staff Sgt Kenneth buff and I that some part of this money be
shared among both of us before informing anybody about it since both of us saw
the money first. This was quite an illegal thing to do, but I tell you what? No
compensation can make up for the risk we have taken with our lives in this hell
hole. Of which my brother in-law was killed by a road side bomb last week.
Please view website for confirmation;
http://www.voanews.com/burmese/archive/2003-04/a-2003-04-20-1-1.cfm
The above figure was given to me as my share, and to conceal this kind of money
became a problem for me, so with the help of a British contact working here and
his office enjoy some immunity, I was able to move the money to a security
company in bangkok thailand as a diplomatic baggage. They are now waiting for
us to provide the name of beneficiary who they will transfer the funds to. The
reason i want you to claim the funds on my behalf is that as a soldier, i
cannot present a concrete evidence on how i made such a big amount of money
down here. Besides the US Government is trying their best to keep their eyes on
soldiers here inorder to effect a high level of discipline among us.The moment
i
am sure that you are willing to assist me, i will give you the information of
the security company and the security code of the baggage.I want
you to tell me how much you will take from this money for the assistance you
will give to me.
One passionate appeal I will make to you is not to discuss this matter with
anybody, should you have reasons to reject this offer, please and please
destroy this message as any leakage of this information will be too bad for us
soldiers here in Iraq. I do not know how long we will remain here, and i have
been shot, wounded and survived two suicide bomb attacks by the special grace
of God, this and other reasons i will mention later has prompted me to reach
out for help, i honestly want this matter to be resolved immediately, please
contact me as soon aspossible, my only way of communication is email.
Yours in Service.
Major Amy Robinson Camp MXP-512 Third Infantry Division Unit(T.I.D.U),
Abul Uruj,bagdad,irag
It sounds so familiar because I–as well as millions of others–have seen it before. If you recall an email from an African nation (generally Nigeria, but there have been others) then you have indeed seen this before, because it’s essentially the same sort of scam. There was an email from Nigeria with essentially the same text but this one is on another level in a sense that it plays with patriotism and our soldiers under fire in a distant nation–which is much closer to home than a disposed king, prince or whatever.
It’s actually somewhat fascinating in that if you look at it closely there are some interesting misspellings. ‘US’ as in ‘United States’ is spelled ‘us’; ‘Iraq’ is spelled ‘irag, and ‘Baghdad,’ is spelled ‘bagdad.’
What’s most interesting is that ‘Baghdad’ is phonetically speaking, spelled ‘bagdad.’
Which makes me think that the writer of this email is not an American, and like the Nigerian scam, this originates elsewhere, as in overseas.
I put my money on Russia, but that’s a guess.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
I Think I Will See 'Wolverine' This Weekend
Did I write ‘Wolverine?’ I meant ‘Wolberine!’
Why The Star Wars Sequels (After The Original Trilogy) Sucked
There was also that that later films (The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith) were clearly an afterthought. George Lucas may have been thinking about extending his first trilogy of films, but it seems relatively apparent that his ideas did not exactly gel before he went about actually making them. This was the very tendency that hurt the two sequels to the Matrix (in and of itself an incredible film, it’s sequels not so much as well. In both cases I think money was the motivator for the series moving forward so relatively quickly, though in the case of George Lucas it doesn’t appear to be that simple because his original trilogy made billions (this is not even including merchandising), so I get the feeling that if George Lucas wanted to take a few years longer to churn out the second series of films, I suspect that no one on at Twentieth-Century Fox would have made a peep.
So why rush it?
Though I think the greatest error made by Mr. Lucas was the casting of Hayden Christensen as the person who would become Darth Vader. Now keep in mind, I am not saying that Mr. Christensen is a bad actor, indeed, he was really excellent in Shattered Glass, directed by Billy Ray.
Which makes it even stranger that he was so whiney and irritating in the Stars Wars films. I also get the feeling that he was giving what the director asked for, which is the saddest part.
Though worse of all they reduced one of the most fascinating characters in the entire Star Wars mythos to little more than a sad–unfortunately not in a tragic sense–in a very pathetic sense. Such an elemental being, such a personification of evil and sinister intent, was reduced to a immature child.
That is the greatest tragedy of the later sequels to the original Star Wars films.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Final Multimedia Assignment
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Wolverine Ripped The BO A New One
His last film, and as far as I am aware his first studio film, Rendition, did not do so well. I cannot speculate on why because I did not see it myself.
Now Mr. Hood’s (it’s apt that he’s directing a film about a superhero because his surname sounds like one. “Look! The Hood is getting away!” I can imagine someone shouting) next studio film, X-Men Origins: Wolverine has opened to the tune of $87 Million.
Now keep in mind, this movie has been getting ‘mixed’ reviews, with the majority of them being, well...bad across the board. Even the hardcore fan sites, like Ain’t It Cool News, weren’t terribly enthusiastic about it. Here’s an example:
Yet it still managed to pull in almost a $100 Million.
During it’s premiere, which was from Friday to Sunday.
$87 Million in three days. Oh, yeah I think that there’s a sequel Wolverine’s future.
Though not to disparage Mr. Hood here, but I think that we might be seeing ‘Ratner Syndrome’ in effect here.
‘Ratner Syndrome’ takes it’s name from the director, Brett Ratner, who also happens to be the director of the third X-Men film, which also went on to make a bundle of dough.
Mr. Ratner, who I have never met and is perhaps a great person, is a hack. He brings everything but vision and passion to a project, yet he was able to bring in a mint directing X-Men: The Last Stand.
Why is this? Probably because the characters themselves have reached such an iconic status that Alfred E. Newman could probably direct a film based upon the X-Men, and if it were not total shite, probably make a bazillion dollars.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Are You Fraggin' Kidding....
The first thing that came to mind was: “Are you fraggin’ kidding me?” I don’t know, but to my jaded eyes those look like Christmas decorations on Kleenex containers. Now there’s nothing wrong with Christmas decorations on products or the motif per se, though it’s May.
May! (visualize Sam Kenison at this point. If you haven’t seen ‘Back To School,’ rent it. It’s worth it for him alone)
Not September, not October, but May! I could be wrong, and the current climate change is perhaps disrupting my perception of the season, but isn’t it about to become summer?
I mean, it isn’t even winter yet!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
UFO
To me that sounds as if James Cameron were selling off some of the endoskeletons–that I am sure he has–from the Terminator films. Sure he could, but why would he have to if money weren’t an issue?
His last production, The New Captain Scarlet ran from 2003-2005, not too long ago but I haven’t even heard rumors of anything new.
Which is not the same as saying that nothing is happening.
Perhaps Jonathan Frakes had something to do with his current low profile. After all, his version of a Gerry Anderson property, The Thunderbirds, was so bad that Mr. Anderson would have nothing to do with it.
Which in hindsight was a very smart move.
The picture above is my version of SkyDiver from UFO, which I would like to imagine it would have looked like if the UFO feature film had come to fruition.
Rainy Days and Sundays
Lately I am taking to heart the role rain plays in regulating the outside temperature, cleaning the air, as well as the water it provides to plants and animals. This way I am less ‘put out’ by the inconvenience of it.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Odd Coincidences
Now, in the movie it was caused by sexual repression though I suspect that the swine flu that is being faced all over the world has little do to with delayed gratification.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Why We Run
“Into the distance, a ribbon of black. Stretched to the point of no turning back. A flight of fancy on a windswept field, standing alone, my senses reel. Fatal attraction holding me fast, how can I escape it’s irresistible grasp. How can I keep my eyes from the circling sky, tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I.”
Pink Floyd, Learning To Fly
Why do those of us that run, run? As one gets older it doesn’t get any easier to drag your tired arse out of bed, and pound the pavement for an hour. Honestly, it would be much easier to lie on the couch, grab a beer, and watch television
Kick up your feet, and lose yourself for a few hours in the life of a stranger, familiar only through team statistics and other minutae you have absorbed like a sponge.
Though as far as I am concerned, few things as pure, as engaging, as a good run. When you’re running, and you get in your groove, nothing can touch you. The aches and pains don’t go away, but they recede to a very small place in the back of your mind.
Things that prior to the run perplexed and irritated, now seem manageable and barely worth the worry and stress that you put into them in the first place.
Then it’s all instinct. You can’t over-think a run (and if you have somehow managed to do so, stop it). The part of your mind that over-analyzes everything takes a much needed rest, as muscle-memory engages.
And for a little while, you’re flying. Scenery blurs as you pass, and you barely feel your feet strike the ground anymore.
Running isn’t easy, yet in essence it’s so sublimely simple; though perhaps it shouldn’t be because you run the risk of forgetting every foot-fall is a gift.
Commercial Obsessions
You’ve all probably seen this commercial for the Verizon Hub:
What bothers me most about this commercial is the son’s reaction to paella. Now, I understand that this is a commercial, but at the same time the kid is overplaying the rebellious son card a bit because my mother would have said that if I weren’t eating what she was preparing, I just wouldn’t be eating that night. There would be no pizza in my immediate future; though that is not to say that there were things that I wouldn’t eat.
Head cheese, for example. Too many varied animal parts for my liking. Perhaps if they stuck to just one I could manage to stomach it, but head cheese can contain, feet, tongues and hearts, which sounds more like an anatomy lesson than a meal.
I have also never been a fan of various condiments, such as ketchup (or catsup), because I have never quite understood the logic of it. I mean, aren’t tomatoes good enough for some people? Anywhere you can put ketchup, you can use a tomato, so why bother with a pale substitute?
For awhile I would not eat mayonnaise, though I would eat tuna (which my mom made with tuna, onions, and mayonnaise) so I couldn’t quite find the logic of that particular culinary decision.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Charlie Brown, Lucy and Footballs
Here’s a YouTube clip of the Peanuts shilling for MetLife:
Perhaps the oddest thing about the commercial is that I could see such behavior from Charlie Brown and Snoopy, but Schroeder always seemed somehow above such antics.
The worse things is that, for me, the Peanuts were like comfort food for the brain. Their consistency (let’s be honest. When Charlie Brown finally kicked that football, didn’t your spirits soar as high as it did), is something that’s often missing from our hectic lives today.
As an aside, this is also probably why shows like Law & Order have lasted so long. It’s a reassuring despite the fact that it is a crime show and–essentially–is the same from one episode to the next.
If there was a holiday, there was a Charlie Brown special for it. When Halloween rolled around, so did ‘It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!’
As you ate turkey with your family during Thanksgiving, you probably watched ‘A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.’
Christmastime? Charlie has you covered with ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas.’
Even as a child, one subtly picked up on the fact that Charlie Brown was a bit morose, as well as somewhat of a loser. And as if that weren’t bad enough, his greatest dream, to kick that damn football, was for too many times literally pulled out from underneath him by Lucy van Pelt, who was as close to a nemesis any of the Peanuts gang could claim to have.
I submit as evidence this clip of Lucy, Charlie Brown and the Football, via YouTube:
Part of the charm of the Peanuts is that that they were not on all the time (as much as I liked the characters, I never got into their animated series when I was younger), so they never wore out their welcome like many other cartoons. This made them special.
They remind me of a friend that you see only a few times a year. When they appear you immediately recall the great time you had during their last visit. Strangely enough, because part of you knows that the visit will be relatively short, you take advantage of every moment you have.
Now, while I still enjoy seeing the Peanuts gang, and find the commercials interesting, I am wondering when this friend is going to wear out their welcome.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
How To Save A Life
Now, as much as I dig the idea of other people living peacefully to a ripe old age, that admiration is tempered somewhat by the fact that I too live out my years in a similar fashion.
Sometime, watch your loved one, or perhaps a loved-one-to-be, the next time you’re both walking through a crowd. Watch how they navigate, make their way from point to point. Do they cut people off? Do they move remarkably slow despite the fact that everyone around them is moving at a brisk clip?
Do they make directional changes seeming at random? On the way somewhere, again navigating a through a crowd, do they just stop, blissfully unaware that there is probably someone directly behind them not expecting them to do so?
Now visualize the that scenario at the wheel of a car.
If the one your care for does any these things listed in the paragraph prior on a consistent basis, DO NOT GET IN A CAR WITH THEM AT THE WHEEL because they have already proven that they have not mastered the idea behind walking amongst groups of people, never mind propelling 3000 pounds of steel, plastic and glass through rush hour traffic.
You’re welcome.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Matters of Faith
And most importantly, what if this religion had no basis for the vampire mythos.
Would the vampire simply not exist upon encountering such a person?
I think the answer is Yes, though there is an important caveat. That caveat is that the non-belief would have to reach a critical mass, and the more people that believed it, the weaker the vampire’s hold on this level of existence would be because change would come on a quantum level, which be very inhospitable for the vampire because not only would the creature itself be rejected, but the very notion of the thing’s existence would no longer be in effect.
Which leads to the question: Where do gods go when we no longer believe in them? Do they still occupy the same lofty firmament of their glory days, and their teeming legions of followers, or is their fate non-existence?
And No, because you have to be talking about the Christopher Lee era Dracula and vampires of that ilk because the portrayal of that character appears very much driven by Biblical aspects. In other words, that version of the vampire exists because it its opposition to all things Christian. Take those things away, and I think that it could be persuasively argued that the vampire itself would no longer exist, as if he were exposed to the light of day, because it exists only BECAUSE of its opposition to Christianity.
These vampires do not exist in and of themselves. Instead they are projections, manifestations, extensions of the contrary impulses in humanity.
Now, the vampire myth has changed to match the times, and the religious aspect in most cases are no longer necessary or secondary considerations. For example, if you were to run into the vampires of Near Dark or those of the Blade series (in which I somewhat reluctantly include the weakest film of the series, Blade: Trinity) of films then I suspect that they would care less what your beliefs were.
In fact, this theme–the moving away of the vampire from the religious to the secular–is portrayed in excellent fashion by the second film of the Blade trilogy: Blade II. Directed by Guillermo Del Toro, the new vampire is a result of the excesses of science, not God.
Then again, isn’t science simply the New Religion?
And our research centers and laboratories our new cathedrals.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Coming Home
I also vaguely remember it being the title of a story from a comic, perhaps the X-Men.
Though I think that it’s safe to assume that it was used before Carly Simon and whomever happened to write that particular issue of the X-Men, so I think that I will be OK.
Though just saying it to myself a few times made me think that perhaps ‘Coming Home’ would be better.
Besides, I recall that being a title of a movie with Jon Voight, so perhaps I am moving up in the world, in that I am borrowing titles from quality entertainment now.
To Be
And that is what would happen if I didn’t.
Which is that I would become a zombie, of sorts. I would shamble to work everyday, even enjoying myself for the most part, though I would not be truly content because I would see myself, in the distance of time, exactly where I am right now.
“Got no future, got no past. Here today, built to last.”
West End Boys, The Pet Shop Boys
It’s a terrible thing to see such a bleak vision of a possible future, never mind having to live with it like an old, too familiar friend.
Now, despite going to school, I could end up in the same place I am now, though it would be different in that at least I made the effort to learn new skills, and to better myself.
It’s not much, but sometimes you have to take whatever you can get.
Though that is not to say that I am implying that there is anything wrong with working for a living; but a job has to offer more than just a wage. Ideally there should be opportunities for growth, challenge, and advancement.
And it’s a major plus if you can find the job that enriches the soul while delivering those other very necessary things.
At my current job, before I moved on to a new position, that’s what I felt.
Now things are better, though I don’t think that it will last forever (I don’t like to use that phrase because the last time that I checked no one lived forever) so I have to prepare the groundwork for moving on.
It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but it will have to be.
Writing Again
RapidWeaver does that for me with a minimum of fuss. I think that I will go back to iWeb at some point in the future, if only because I like the versatility of the app; but for now it’s RapidWeaver.
I may even buy a plug-in or two for it.