Here's my example of the Hulu exact time embedder that enables blog embeds of the best parts of movies.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
hulu provides dr. horrible... for now
Sometimes things just come together just for me, it seems. When that happens I'd be remiss if I didn't pass said things along, even if it's totally not worth it to you. As stated before, I am so not remiss.
Neil Patrick Harris is now one of the funniest people on the planet thanks to How I Met Your Mother. So joining up with Joss Whedon during the writer's strike was the perfect fit. The combination yielded Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which has its problems, but on the whole is totally delightful. It follows Dr. Horrible (NPH), a meek supervillain as he attempts to join the ranks of the Evil League of Evil and chronicles his actions in his video blog. Along the way he falls for a girl and clashes with Captain Hammer, the obnoxious conceited superhero. Captain Hammer is played by Whedon's golden boy, Nathan Fillion, who is awesome as Captain Mal in Firefly (a series that was liked by everyone fortunate enough to see it).
Oh, and the whole thing is a musical too.
Apparently over at drhorrible.com the plan was to only release it for a week and then charge for it on iTunes, but I guess Hulu is picking it up for another limited time. I'll bet everyone who paid six bucks for it on iTunes is pretty pissed right now.
While I'm speaking about Hulu, have you checked out their embed options? Totally cool. You can specify exactly what section of the video you want to show and Hulu adjusts the embed code to show just that. I didn't do it to the code below, but it's good to know that I can
Anyway, I think Act II is the best, but you can't just watch Act II without Act I. Here are all three in order. They're long, so if you decide to watch these you may need to keep this window open all day and catch a little at a time. There are tiny little ads at the front too.
Neil Patrick Harris is now one of the funniest people on the planet thanks to How I Met Your Mother. So joining up with Joss Whedon during the writer's strike was the perfect fit. The combination yielded Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which has its problems, but on the whole is totally delightful. It follows Dr. Horrible (NPH), a meek supervillain as he attempts to join the ranks of the Evil League of Evil and chronicles his actions in his video blog. Along the way he falls for a girl and clashes with Captain Hammer, the obnoxious conceited superhero. Captain Hammer is played by Whedon's golden boy, Nathan Fillion, who is awesome as Captain Mal in Firefly (a series that was liked by everyone fortunate enough to see it).
Oh, and the whole thing is a musical too.
Apparently over at drhorrible.com the plan was to only release it for a week and then charge for it on iTunes, but I guess Hulu is picking it up for another limited time. I'll bet everyone who paid six bucks for it on iTunes is pretty pissed right now.
While I'm speaking about Hulu, have you checked out their embed options? Totally cool. You can specify exactly what section of the video you want to show and Hulu adjusts the embed code to show just that. I didn't do it to the code below, but it's good to know that I can
Anyway, I think Act II is the best, but you can't just watch Act II without Act I. Here are all three in order. They're long, so if you decide to watch these you may need to keep this window open all day and catch a little at a time. There are tiny little ads at the front too.
Monday, July 28, 2008
song of the moment archive volume ii
'Hi! Since the first song of the moment archive is getting full and taking a while to load all the songs, I've started a new archive. Be sure to visit the first archive as well.
"The Cutter" by Echo and the Bunnymen
I've been doing a whole lotta editing lately.
"Not Fair" by Lily Allen
Here's one from Lily Allen's new one. Don't listen too hard (it's sorta filthy). Just enjoy the awesome Brit-twang of it all.
"'39" by Queen
Brian May was influenced by all those old folk songs of people departing in sailing ships and stuff like that. He claims this song isn't about an ocean voyage, but a space voyage where the time dilation would mean that everyone would be too old for the guy by the time he got back. So it's a space-age folk song with an acoustic guitar instead of a theramin. How cool is that? Brian May is one of the coolest guys ever. I think he cryogenically froze his own hair back in the '70s.
"60 Miles an Hour" by New Order
I don't really have any Christmas music, so this'll have to do. This song has been in my head all day. It's off New Order's cd from, I think, 2001. It was one of the last cds in my car stereo before the cd player broke. I remember listening to it during the 2002 Olympics when I had to drive up and down Ogden Canyon because I was staying with Rhett's parents at the time. The cd was actually pretty mediocre but this particular track is seriously one of New Order's best. Since they were so old when they made it, it will probably never be as popular as "Blue Monday."
"Ribcage Mambo" by Frenchy
Here's a weird Halloween song. I found it on a Rob Zombie and friends compilation called "Halloween Hootenanny." I think I was in Denver at the time. I was there for a Cure concert and I stopped in some record store to pick this up. So this song is a weird mambo number about seduction and manipulation. I really like all the body part imagery.
"I Scare Myself" by Thomas Dolby
This Halloween song is a bit different, because it's not really a Halloween song, I guess. It's by Thomas Dolby, who was famous in the 80s for "She Blinded Me With Science." He had lots of other good stuff too! Anyway, this song has this sort of loungy jazzy feel that I think really fits Halloween. It's more of a subtler side. It also is more about retreating into self-psychology, which is another forgotten theme that Halloween often brings out.
"The Mercy Seat" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
This song isn't gonna make this year's Halloween cd. It's a bit long and may actually be not that Halloweeny, but I still like it. I think it's about a guy on death row putting stock in his life and trying to determine whether or not he deserves his fate. Johnny Cash did a great cover of it just before he died.
"Four Sticks" by Led Zeppelin
A wicked long time ago I played this song on the jukebox at Brick Oven. I had just heard that John Bonham had a really hard part with the drum part and couldn't do it until he held two sticks in each hand. He nailed it with four sticks and that's why the song is called what it's called. Of course it is pretty weird that the drum part was that elaborate before the song even had a title, but oh well.
"Nobody Takes Me Seriously" by Split Enz
Here's a Tim Finn-penned song that he actually didn't play at his show. It's a song that I've considered a theme song of sorts. I think that's the problem with me telling jokes all the time. I'm rarely taken seriously. This song is great though, because it's self deprecating depressing and it's also full of crazy whimsy.
"The Day Before You Came" by ABBA
Found it! I thought I lost this song. Here's a really weird song by ABBA. I think this was their last single that they released. It was like '83 or so. I know it because this Brit band I used to like called Blancmange covered it. Anyway, it's a really weird song. It's got a really weird tone to it. The song is meant to be mundane-sounding, but it's sort of implied that the singer's life didn't have much meaning until some future event. The next day she meets the character mentioned in the title, and I suppose the tone of her life drastically changes. Of course we don't know if her life was improved or hindered. The way she's "remembering" what life was like could be envious because life was simpler or maybe she has pity on her former self because life had no meaning before. Ever since I first heard it I've always wondered.
"The Cutter" by Echo and the Bunnymen
I've been doing a whole lotta editing lately.
"Not Fair" by Lily Allen
Here's one from Lily Allen's new one. Don't listen too hard (it's sorta filthy). Just enjoy the awesome Brit-twang of it all.
"'39" by Queen
Brian May was influenced by all those old folk songs of people departing in sailing ships and stuff like that. He claims this song isn't about an ocean voyage, but a space voyage where the time dilation would mean that everyone would be too old for the guy by the time he got back. So it's a space-age folk song with an acoustic guitar instead of a theramin. How cool is that? Brian May is one of the coolest guys ever. I think he cryogenically froze his own hair back in the '70s.
"60 Miles an Hour" by New Order
I don't really have any Christmas music, so this'll have to do. This song has been in my head all day. It's off New Order's cd from, I think, 2001. It was one of the last cds in my car stereo before the cd player broke. I remember listening to it during the 2002 Olympics when I had to drive up and down Ogden Canyon because I was staying with Rhett's parents at the time. The cd was actually pretty mediocre but this particular track is seriously one of New Order's best. Since they were so old when they made it, it will probably never be as popular as "Blue Monday."
"Ribcage Mambo" by Frenchy
Here's a weird Halloween song. I found it on a Rob Zombie and friends compilation called "Halloween Hootenanny." I think I was in Denver at the time. I was there for a Cure concert and I stopped in some record store to pick this up. So this song is a weird mambo number about seduction and manipulation. I really like all the body part imagery.
"I Scare Myself" by Thomas Dolby
This Halloween song is a bit different, because it's not really a Halloween song, I guess. It's by Thomas Dolby, who was famous in the 80s for "She Blinded Me With Science." He had lots of other good stuff too! Anyway, this song has this sort of loungy jazzy feel that I think really fits Halloween. It's more of a subtler side. It also is more about retreating into self-psychology, which is another forgotten theme that Halloween often brings out.
"The Mercy Seat" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
This song isn't gonna make this year's Halloween cd. It's a bit long and may actually be not that Halloweeny, but I still like it. I think it's about a guy on death row putting stock in his life and trying to determine whether or not he deserves his fate. Johnny Cash did a great cover of it just before he died.
"Four Sticks" by Led Zeppelin
A wicked long time ago I played this song on the jukebox at Brick Oven. I had just heard that John Bonham had a really hard part with the drum part and couldn't do it until he held two sticks in each hand. He nailed it with four sticks and that's why the song is called what it's called. Of course it is pretty weird that the drum part was that elaborate before the song even had a title, but oh well.
"Nobody Takes Me Seriously" by Split Enz
Here's a Tim Finn-penned song that he actually didn't play at his show. It's a song that I've considered a theme song of sorts. I think that's the problem with me telling jokes all the time. I'm rarely taken seriously. This song is great though, because it's self deprecating depressing and it's also full of crazy whimsy.
"The Day Before You Came" by ABBA
Found it! I thought I lost this song. Here's a really weird song by ABBA. I think this was their last single that they released. It was like '83 or so. I know it because this Brit band I used to like called Blancmange covered it. Anyway, it's a really weird song. It's got a really weird tone to it. The song is meant to be mundane-sounding, but it's sort of implied that the singer's life didn't have much meaning until some future event. The next day she meets the character mentioned in the title, and I suppose the tone of her life drastically changes. Of course we don't know if her life was improved or hindered. The way she's "remembering" what life was like could be envious because life was simpler or maybe she has pity on her former self because life had no meaning before. Ever since I first heard it I've always wondered.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
lightning in a digital bottle
Yeah, I took my camera into the storm in the middle of the night last night. I guess after taking about 100 photos over the course of an hour, I was bound to get lucky once.
300! (and related...)
Post 300! This is Sparta!
Please don't bother to go back over all the posts and count (as if I could even dream of such a devoted and scary readership). I'm also counting some draft pages that I never published or deleted. If you counted the live posts it would probably be about 287 or so.
So anyway, I do have something to talk about that does have to do with 300 (and I was also asked to talk about this). The guy who directed 300 is also the guy who is directing the upcoming Watchmen movie set for March of next year. Just in case you were late getting into The Dark Knight last weekend, here's the trailer:
Of the people I know who have seen the trailer, there are two very distinct camps. The first camp says it looks awesome and the other camp says it looks weird and silly. I've noticed the distinctive factor between the two opinions is whether or not the person has read the Watchmen graphic novel. Those unfamiliar with the source material are pretty much unanimous in thinking that this whole thing looks pretty silly. The rest of us are seriously drooling.
This isn't just another superhero movie. Remember how Woodrow Wilson said that World War I would be the "war to end all wars?" Well, he was wrong in that instance, but Watchmen will be the superhero movie to end all superhero movies. I'm not saying because it's so good or so big or whatever. It's just that the concept of the whole thing pulls the rug out from the entire superhero concept. Those protesters in the trailer? They're rioting against their own superheroes. Watchmen was published in (I think) 1986 and since then we've seen influence of some of its concepts. The 1989 Batman was the first superhero movie that dared suggest that the hero was just as psychotic as the villain. I haven't seen Hancock yet, but there's a good example of an imperfect superhero. Even when The Incredibles came out I said that it was a perfect combination of Watchmen and The Fantastic Four (even more so than the FF movie.
Anyway the point is, the cheesy throwback costumes in the trailer are supposed to look goofy. The "superheroes" in question are dorky, imperfect and quite mentally imbalanced.
Anyway, we've drawn Zack Snyder for the direction. He's had it in for me ever since I kinda ran over his dog. Well, replace "kinda" with the word "repeatedly" and the word "dog" with "son." He did an adequate job filming the video to an above average Morrissey song ("Tomorrow"). He also made a pretty scary remake of Dawn of the Dead (although he took the whole consumerism parody out for some dumb reason (but he made up for it with some out-of-this world creepy end credits)). Still, this Watchmen thing could potentially be pretty bad since I didn't like 300 -- his other foray into filmed graphic novels -- all that much. I don't think I can blame Snyder, now that I think about it. The 300 graphic novel wasn't really all that great and Snyder made it exactly like the book.
Snyder is a lot like the graphic novel filming version of Chris Columbus -- the guy who directed the first couple of Harry Potter movies. Columbus is often criticized for applying the book template to the movie and not making enough creative decisions for the translation to film (ironically while incurring the wrath of potterphiles who felt the translation wasn't exact enough). I've said several times before that I don't feel book-to-movie translations should be word-for-word (or picture-for-picture in terms of graphic novels). Watchmen, however, would just about be the only exact translation that would make me giddy with delight.
On the other hand, there is a reason why Terry Gilliam of Monty Python and Time Bandits fame decided to never film it back in the '80s. He claimed the concept is unfilmable. Technology has improved and we can get the landmark images from the source material to the screen, but the finished verbatim work would easily hit six hours. As zealous as Snyder is in keeping the adaptation faithful, lots of plot would get the axe. Watchmen is a graphic novel in the purest sense. It begins, it introduces the characters, it takes them on a journey and it ENDS. It's a story in itself. It's not an episodic set of superhero events and it certainly has no sequel, but the journey is a dense one.
I'm confident in Snyder -- even if Alan Moore, the anarchist bearded freako who actually wrote the Watchmen graphic novel, isn't. Moore also wrote V For Vendetta, but you wouldn't know even if you are a credit-watcher like I am. Moore, quite the literary elitist, has disowned the movie versions of his stories and characters. If I wrote like he did, I'd probably do the same.
Now, sadly, Snyder and Moore have become enemies of sorts. Moore seems absolutely sick of the Hollywoodization of his work, so he's not instantly dissatisfied. I read somewhere this past week (I just looked a minute ago and can't find the source, but it swears anyway, so maybe I shouldn't) that Snyder said something to the effect of "The worst that can happen is that Alan Moore pops the DVD in a few years from now and mutters something to the effect of 'this isn't that bad.'" Apparently Moore got word of that statement and said something like, "There is now &*^$ing way that movie is getting anywhere near my DVD player."
That was extreme of him to say, but the statement he made that scares me the most is what he said in Entertainment Weekly when asked about the upcoming movie:
Please don't bother to go back over all the posts and count (as if I could even dream of such a devoted and scary readership). I'm also counting some draft pages that I never published or deleted. If you counted the live posts it would probably be about 287 or so.
So anyway, I do have something to talk about that does have to do with 300 (and I was also asked to talk about this). The guy who directed 300 is also the guy who is directing the upcoming Watchmen movie set for March of next year. Just in case you were late getting into The Dark Knight last weekend, here's the trailer:
Of the people I know who have seen the trailer, there are two very distinct camps. The first camp says it looks awesome and the other camp says it looks weird and silly. I've noticed the distinctive factor between the two opinions is whether or not the person has read the Watchmen graphic novel. Those unfamiliar with the source material are pretty much unanimous in thinking that this whole thing looks pretty silly. The rest of us are seriously drooling.
This isn't just another superhero movie. Remember how Woodrow Wilson said that World War I would be the "war to end all wars?" Well, he was wrong in that instance, but Watchmen will be the superhero movie to end all superhero movies. I'm not saying because it's so good or so big or whatever. It's just that the concept of the whole thing pulls the rug out from the entire superhero concept. Those protesters in the trailer? They're rioting against their own superheroes. Watchmen was published in (I think) 1986 and since then we've seen influence of some of its concepts. The 1989 Batman was the first superhero movie that dared suggest that the hero was just as psychotic as the villain. I haven't seen Hancock yet, but there's a good example of an imperfect superhero. Even when The Incredibles came out I said that it was a perfect combination of Watchmen and The Fantastic Four (even more so than the FF movie.
Anyway the point is, the cheesy throwback costumes in the trailer are supposed to look goofy. The "superheroes" in question are dorky, imperfect and quite mentally imbalanced.
Anyway, we've drawn Zack Snyder for the direction. He's had it in for me ever since I kinda ran over his dog. Well, replace "kinda" with the word "repeatedly" and the word "dog" with "son." He did an adequate job filming the video to an above average Morrissey song ("Tomorrow"). He also made a pretty scary remake of Dawn of the Dead (although he took the whole consumerism parody out for some dumb reason (but he made up for it with some out-of-this world creepy end credits)). Still, this Watchmen thing could potentially be pretty bad since I didn't like 300 -- his other foray into filmed graphic novels -- all that much. I don't think I can blame Snyder, now that I think about it. The 300 graphic novel wasn't really all that great and Snyder made it exactly like the book.Snyder is a lot like the graphic novel filming version of Chris Columbus -- the guy who directed the first couple of Harry Potter movies. Columbus is often criticized for applying the book template to the movie and not making enough creative decisions for the translation to film (ironically while incurring the wrath of potterphiles who felt the translation wasn't exact enough). I've said several times before that I don't feel book-to-movie translations should be word-for-word (or picture-for-picture in terms of graphic novels). Watchmen, however, would just about be the only exact translation that would make me giddy with delight.
On the other hand, there is a reason why Terry Gilliam of Monty Python and Time Bandits fame decided to never film it back in the '80s. He claimed the concept is unfilmable. Technology has improved and we can get the landmark images from the source material to the screen, but the finished verbatim work would easily hit six hours. As zealous as Snyder is in keeping the adaptation faithful, lots of plot would get the axe. Watchmen is a graphic novel in the purest sense. It begins, it introduces the characters, it takes them on a journey and it ENDS. It's a story in itself. It's not an episodic set of superhero events and it certainly has no sequel, but the journey is a dense one.
I'm confident in Snyder -- even if Alan Moore, the anarchist bearded freako who actually wrote the Watchmen graphic novel, isn't. Moore also wrote V For Vendetta, but you wouldn't know even if you are a credit-watcher like I am. Moore, quite the literary elitist, has disowned the movie versions of his stories and characters. If I wrote like he did, I'd probably do the same.Now, sadly, Snyder and Moore have become enemies of sorts. Moore seems absolutely sick of the Hollywoodization of his work, so he's not instantly dissatisfied. I read somewhere this past week (I just looked a minute ago and can't find the source, but it swears anyway, so maybe I shouldn't) that Snyder said something to the effect of "The worst that can happen is that Alan Moore pops the DVD in a few years from now and mutters something to the effect of 'this isn't that bad.'" Apparently Moore got word of that statement and said something like, "There is now &*^$ing way that movie is getting anywhere near my DVD player."
That was extreme of him to say, but the statement he made that scares me the most is what he said in Entertainment Weekly when asked about the upcoming movie:
There are things that we did with Watchmen that could only work in a comic, and were indeed designed to show off things that other media can't.Drat. I am a believer in comic books. I probably shouldn't expect anything other than derivative work.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
let's seriously talk about the dark knight
By the time you read this, you've probably already seen The Dark Knight. Maybe you've seen it a couple of times. Perhaps this post is old news, but we'll put it up anyway.
Not many of you listen to the awesome Star Trek podcast that J.R. and I do every couple of weeks. This last podcast, however, we devoted a good third of the recording to just talking about The Dark Knight. I think it's a fun listen. Download that podcast right here. The Batman talk is the final half hour (roughly an hour in).
If you're too lazy to do that, just click on the Quicktime bar below which starts right at the Batman talk. You could go ahead and play it and then open up a new Firefox window and continue your other web surfing.
EDIT: You may notice that the convenient Quicktime bar doesn't necessarily appear in Google Reader (or perhaps not in whatever feed system you use). Don't worry. If you click on the entry, the listening bar will still appear in the blog.
I suppose I should also mention this year's Nerdtacular experience, which is where I saw the movie in the first place. It was fun. Thanks for the free movie Scott! Check out his awesome stuff and listen to his podcast at Myextralife.com.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
july xiv, mmviii in pictures
Check out this Facebook album to see many more pictures of this event!
I think this was the run that messed up the pool. Notice the water draining out the left side.
Kristi and Stephanie. One of them came for the slip n' slide. One of them came for the chocolate milk drinking contest.
Pete and I are doing synchronized drinking here. I was worried that I'd be the only one in the chocolate milk drinking contest and I'd have to drink three gallons by myself. Fortunately, with the enthusiasm of the crowd, the pressure was off and I only drank three cups. Alex and Joe tied at a modest five cups.
Their win was not without casualties. Alex and Joe threw-up violently over the course of a good 12-hour period.
For some reason this photo wouldn't upload on Facebook. It's a pretty good overview of the playing field.
Thanks to Pete and whoever else had the camera for all the photos.
Here's video of the "burning of the chaff." For the record, since I stated it before the video started, I only burned a burned cd of Metallica, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots. Everyone was like, dude, don't you want to keep that? Well, it was all I could find short notice. I was running around all day looking for a stupid slip n' slide and then i had to mow the lawn. No excuse I know, but I just ran out of time by the time I had to have something to burn. Everybody was also asking me if it had to be something negative and I was like whatever. Notice that one of the words that describe the 14th of July is "burning" not "burning for spite." As long as it's flammable or melty, it's an option to burn for the day. Oh yeah, and I also burned last year's Lagoon season pass coupon book.
Thanks to Margie for videoing that.
I think this was the run that messed up the pool. Notice the water draining out the left side.
Kristi and Stephanie. One of them came for the slip n' slide. One of them came for the chocolate milk drinking contest.
Pete and I are doing synchronized drinking here. I was worried that I'd be the only one in the chocolate milk drinking contest and I'd have to drink three gallons by myself. Fortunately, with the enthusiasm of the crowd, the pressure was off and I only drank three cups. Alex and Joe tied at a modest five cups.
Their win was not without casualties. Alex and Joe threw-up violently over the course of a good 12-hour period.
For some reason this photo wouldn't upload on Facebook. It's a pretty good overview of the playing field.Thanks to Pete and whoever else had the camera for all the photos.
Here's video of the "burning of the chaff." For the record, since I stated it before the video started, I only burned a burned cd of Metallica, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots. Everyone was like, dude, don't you want to keep that? Well, it was all I could find short notice. I was running around all day looking for a stupid slip n' slide and then i had to mow the lawn. No excuse I know, but I just ran out of time by the time I had to have something to burn. Everybody was also asking me if it had to be something negative and I was like whatever. Notice that one of the words that describe the 14th of July is "burning" not "burning for spite." As long as it's flammable or melty, it's an option to burn for the day. Oh yeah, and I also burned last year's Lagoon season pass coupon book.
Thanks to Margie for videoing that.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
july xiv, mmviii
Did you know that the July 14th holiday still isn't recognized by our "pretty, great state?" As a result, over 93% of this state's employers do not give their employees the holiday off.
Hopefully our July 14th celebrations this year will help change that. This year's 14th should be better, bigger, bulgier, butter and better than any other 14th thus far celebrated. I invite you personally to come and personally revel in all that the 14th of July represents. Through your celebrations you can support what the founders of the 14th of July stood for: freedom, perseverance, loyalty, agility, burning, holidayness, buoyancy, religious persecution, truth soundingness and awesomeness.
The celebrations will begin at my house. A schedule follows:
6:55pm -- slip 'n slide (if it still exists and I can find it) and consumption of Joe's leftover lemonade.
7:40pm -- chocolate milk drinking contest
8:30pm -- "the burning of the chaff"; bring something you want burned!
10:00pm -- march on the capitol to attain official 14th holidayness.
Please, remember to not dress warmly! You'll probably actually want to dress wetly. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Also, in the comments section for this post, please tell me what words you would use to describe what July 14th represents to you.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
best blog ever this year!
Today a podcast blog that I frequent solicited me to vote for it at the Blogger's Choice Awards. Instead of voting for it I figured I'd go ahead and do a little soliciting myself. I figured perhaps maybe, maybe it'll help with itunes subscriptions or something.
Anyway, I nominated three of my blogs for awards. As usual, you need to register to vote for this stuff, but if you do, it'll make me feel special. Here are the voting links:
Vote for Blogging Forgotten Realms!
Best Geek Blog
Best Blog About Stuff
Best Hobby Blog
Best Pop Culture Blog
Vote for the Jon Madsen Movie Commentary Podcast!
Best Podcast
Best Entertainment Blog
Best Pop Culture Blog
Vote for J.R. Watches Star Trek For the First Time!
Best Podcast
Best Blog About Stuff
Best Geek Blog
Best Pop Culture Blog
While you're on the site, feel free to nominate the flagship blog, jonmadsen.blogspot.com, for something!
Anyway, I nominated three of my blogs for awards. As usual, you need to register to vote for this stuff, but if you do, it'll make me feel special. Here are the voting links:
Vote for Blogging Forgotten Realms!
Best Geek Blog
Best Blog About Stuff
Best Hobby Blog
Best Pop Culture Blog
Vote for the Jon Madsen Movie Commentary Podcast!
Best Podcast
Best Entertainment Blog
Best Pop Culture Blog
Vote for J.R. Watches Star Trek For the First Time!
Best Podcast
Best Blog About Stuff
Best Geek Blog
Best Pop Culture Blog
While you're on the site, feel free to nominate the flagship blog, jonmadsen.blogspot.com, for something!
Monday, July 07, 2008
reading. books this time. with words.
You may have noticed that I've put a dazzling shelfari up in the right-side column. I figured I had to do it since I read so many books at the same time. I use the term loosely. I always have a book that I am "reading" but I start far more books than I finish. Maybe I should just finish a bunch of books without starting them to even things out.
Anyway, the books on the shelfari are some books that I am currently reading. Maybe now that I've made them them public I'll finally get them done.
Shadow of the Giant, for example is a book I borrowed from the good Peter Nash two years ago and have actually only read one page of it. As I type this, I know the pressure's on to actually accomplish the actual reading part of the transaction.
I started Interview With the Vampire about seven years ago I think. I'm pretty sure I have less than 100 pages left. It's strange that as much as I love vampires and New Orleans, I'd have such a hard time getting through this one.
You may think The Neverending Story is an odd choice. I suppose it is too. About a year ago I heard on this podcast from this guy Obsidian (he's the guy who drew that fantasy portrait of Maria and me) that The Neverending Story is actually one of the best books he's ever read. I asked around and I don't know anybody else who has actually read it. Also, the movie has a special place in my heart because we watched it at the first mixed-gender birthday party I ever went to.
Out of a Silent Planet is a C.S. Lewis book that my brother swears by. Before he wrote his allegorical Narnia stuff he did this sort of science fictiony stuff. I can tell already that this will be a difficult read.
Voyage of the Dawn Treader: I better finish before the movie comes out. If you happen to pick it up, be sure to read the part about Eustace overcoming his sad case of dragonment.
I could finish the Peanuts book in a few minutes, but it's delightful enough that I'm sort of putting it off. The Schulz biography is fascinating, but hard for me because, well, I already said it was a biography, right?
Making pretty good time with the Phil Jackson book. Unfortunately now that basketball season is long gone, I'm afraid the desire to read it will wane hard too.
I didn't even mention all the Ayn Rand I'm supposed to read. Plus I have this other book where I actually promised the author, in person, that I'd read it and put a rating on Amazon. Whoops. I got those too. I'll outsource.
Hmm. I walked away for a few hours and am now back at my computer and am just realizing that I forgot to post this. As long as I'm still talking I may as well provide this link to my Goodreads profile. Goodreads is so hot right now.
Anyway, the books on the shelfari are some books that I am currently reading. Maybe now that I've made them them public I'll finally get them done.
Shadow of the Giant, for example is a book I borrowed from the good Peter Nash two years ago and have actually only read one page of it. As I type this, I know the pressure's on to actually accomplish the actual reading part of the transaction.
I started Interview With the Vampire about seven years ago I think. I'm pretty sure I have less than 100 pages left. It's strange that as much as I love vampires and New Orleans, I'd have such a hard time getting through this one.
You may think The Neverending Story is an odd choice. I suppose it is too. About a year ago I heard on this podcast from this guy Obsidian (he's the guy who drew that fantasy portrait of Maria and me) that The Neverending Story is actually one of the best books he's ever read. I asked around and I don't know anybody else who has actually read it. Also, the movie has a special place in my heart because we watched it at the first mixed-gender birthday party I ever went to.
Out of a Silent Planet is a C.S. Lewis book that my brother swears by. Before he wrote his allegorical Narnia stuff he did this sort of science fictiony stuff. I can tell already that this will be a difficult read.
Voyage of the Dawn Treader: I better finish before the movie comes out. If you happen to pick it up, be sure to read the part about Eustace overcoming his sad case of dragonment.
I could finish the Peanuts book in a few minutes, but it's delightful enough that I'm sort of putting it off. The Schulz biography is fascinating, but hard for me because, well, I already said it was a biography, right?
Making pretty good time with the Phil Jackson book. Unfortunately now that basketball season is long gone, I'm afraid the desire to read it will wane hard too.
I didn't even mention all the Ayn Rand I'm supposed to read. Plus I have this other book where I actually promised the author, in person, that I'd read it and put a rating on Amazon. Whoops. I got those too. I'll outsource.
Hmm. I walked away for a few hours and am now back at my computer and am just realizing that I forgot to post this. As long as I'm still talking I may as well provide this link to my Goodreads profile. Goodreads is so hot right now.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
obligatory smiley weekend time
It's been a while so instead of writing (thinking), I'll just put a few weekend pics up.
Joe's band played again for Justin's birthday party. They've come a long way since this 70s-era Joy Division shot was taken.
Okay, fine. The photo was actually taken Friday night. It does look a bit Joy Divisiony in its desolation though, don't you think?
Here's another video we took.
Saturday I went to the Arts Festival. Even though it was incredibly hot, I did my best to (very briefly) visit every booth. I found my way to the library part where they were displaying post-its of six-word autobiographies. I filled one out too. I can't remember it. I was in a pretty bad mood by that time, so it was pretty angsty teeny. In the post-it building they were having live readings from some local authors. Nothing makes me want to be a writer more than hearing live readings of mediocre writing.
That night a few of us went off to Morgan to see the "best worst movie ever made." Troll 2 dragged at times, but was funner than the movie I saw last night. It takes place in the town of Nilbog (filmed in Morgan) during a major goblin infestation (analyze the name of the city).
It was an all-star event. They even had fan-flavored short films. I considered buying a poster, but knew I was just getting swept away in b-cinema bliss.
More stuff happened recently. I just didn't have pictures of any of it.
Joe's band played again for Justin's birthday party. They've come a long way since this 70s-era Joy Division shot was taken.
Okay, fine. The photo was actually taken Friday night. It does look a bit Joy Divisiony in its desolation though, don't you think?
Here's another video we took.
Saturday I went to the Arts Festival. Even though it was incredibly hot, I did my best to (very briefly) visit every booth. I found my way to the library part where they were displaying post-its of six-word autobiographies. I filled one out too. I can't remember it. I was in a pretty bad mood by that time, so it was pretty angsty teeny. In the post-it building they were having live readings from some local authors. Nothing makes me want to be a writer more than hearing live readings of mediocre writing.
That night a few of us went off to Morgan to see the "best worst movie ever made." Troll 2 dragged at times, but was funner than the movie I saw last night. It takes place in the town of Nilbog (filmed in Morgan) during a major goblin infestation (analyze the name of the city).
It was an all-star event. They even had fan-flavored short films. I considered buying a poster, but knew I was just getting swept away in b-cinema bliss.
More stuff happened recently. I just didn't have pictures of any of it.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
participation opportunity
J.R. and I are planning to do a podcast tomorrow afternoon sometime (Friday, June 27). I'm guessing about 3 or 4 o'clock. If you can, please join us online. More people are always fun. Hopefully Ustream is up to the task. You'll have to go to both of our pages to hear us both.
J.R.'s page:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/star-trek-stuff
My page:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thejonblogcam
J.R.'s page:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/star-trek-stuff
My page:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thejonblogcam
geekdom 4: the wait is over!
Sorry about the delay, as usual. One of the funnest things about these role-playing games is the fact that even though there is all this characterization involved, it's still totally a game and chance rears its ugly head in really funny ways every once in a while.
If you're unfamiliar with how it works, for just about every action you and your opponents do, you roll a 20-sided die. If you roll a 20, that's very very good for you. If the other guy rolls a 20, it's very very bad for you. If you roll a 1, it's so not good that it's bad (i.e. you attempt to start a campfire and you blow up the camp). So if I were to roll a 1 and the crippled mouse were to roll a 20, the mouse might just get the best of me.
This comic has been in my head for a couple of months. I was intimidated to do it, so it really feels good to get it down. Panel 2 was supposed to be the payoff, but it turns out that panel 1 and 3 are money. Praise tracing!
Here are the videos to go with this. As usual, they are incredibly long, so if you watch them, watch them in fast forward. I may have gone and gotten a bite to eat in the middle of them.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
new york city: the journey
I realized I forgot my camera before I even got on the plane. I considered running home real quick and picking it up, but I didn't want to risk missing the flight. If I missed the flight, it would have a total waste of the JetBlue voucher that Tom gave me for my birthday and it also would have meant that i'd have to hurry and book another flight with less legroom and no free tv. Then THAT would mean I'd have to go home again and get my portable dvd player. So I figured I'd just go without my camera. All of the following pics are from Maria's camera.
On the way over, TNT was showing Starship Troopers. I watched a lot of that, but flipped around to Cartoon Network and VH1 Classic. The guy next to me was watching Starship Troopers too, so I always knew when the commercials were over. NPH is in ST. Remember that? I brought along two books and two magazines, but didn't crack any of them thanks to JetBlue and its media stimulants.
I rested, but didn't really sleep by the time we touched down at JFK at about 5:30 AM. I hate taxis, so as usual, I hopped onto the wonderful JFK Airtrain (a big reason I prefer JFK to LaGuardia). This was not before having the usual Airtrain metrocard trouble that I have every time I go. See, you take the Airtrain to the subway terminal, but the Airtrain costs five bucks which you pay for after you ride it if you're arriving in the city. After that, you need to buy another metrocard to ride the subway. The signage doesn't explicitly spell out the whole ordeal and I think they get a lot of people paying too much for an Airtrain pass when they wanted to be buying a metrocard subway pass. Anyway, during all this hubbub I met this guy named Mike from Salt Lake City who was visiting his friend in Brooklyn. I sort of helped him through the process even though I had to re-figure it out myself. It was his first time in NYC and he was eager, but skeptical.
So about 45 minutes later I arrived at Maria's apartment where we napped the morning away. She took work off. When we awoke we took a short jaunt through Wall Street. Maria lives at the heart of the financial district, which means her neighbors seem more stressed out than the rest of the city (except for her neighbor in 7F who, by the sound of it, has found a really really exciting way to relieve stress).
After the Wall Street adventure it was back to the apartment because I desperately needed to shave. I had grown quite accustomed to receiving compliments about the 'stache, but since it made my upper lip too hot and it had a bunch of food in it, I decided to shave it. Maria didn't want me to shave unless it was my decision and it totally was. Honestly, it was hard to keep it long enough just to show it to her once I came to New York.
That afternoon, we wound up near Times Square. I think this may have been the day we went to The Burger Joint, which is a favorite grease festival of Maria and her peeps. Pretty damn good. It's well hidden behind a curtain in the lobby of a ritzy hotel.
Rather than seeing a broadway show we hit a movie. I always feel a little bad when I see a movie in New York, when I could be doing hundreds of other things; but hey, a movie is a movie and I'm always up for it. Plus the theaters there are pretty neato because the auditoriums are stacked on top of each other and you need to take like five escalators to get where you're going. Anyway, we saw Get Smart. If I were in a worse mood I may have liked it less, but I thought it was pretty good. Honestly, I was shamefully looking forward to seeing it. Over the past few weeks I've been giggling to myself at some of the tv spots while others in the room seem to be rolling their eyes. See if you can guess the part that had Maria and me in stitches.
Did we eat again after that? Maybe.
We found ourselves back in the apartment that night which was fine because we had so much How I Met Your Mother and The Living Daylights to watch. I also brought my guitar controller for the Wii. With Maria's controller we were able to have an actual real guitar match or two. Her roomie, Chelsie joined us. Chels is quite adept and eager at the thing. After that, we introduced Jaclyn to the dice game. We spent Friday night in, but had a blast the old fashioned way. I got some awesome Chinese from down the street.
Saturday was a lot more New Yorky. We hit up the Broadway show Xanadu which was pretty funny, especially the female lead. It's based on the movie starring Olivia Newton-John and is about an ancient Greek muse who inspires a struggling artist to open a roller rink. Maria and I watched the movie together a few months ago. It has some golden moments, but for the most part it's semi-disastrous. To give you an idea of what kind of movie it is, I'm pretty sure it's Phoebe's favorite movie on Friends. Anyway, the Broadway musical had all the great music from the movie, but poked fun at the movie a little to much for me. I thought they could've relished the camp a little more than just stabbed it so much. Tony Roberts is in it. He did some great stuff in Annie Hall, a great film that's a lot about New York.
There's a really fabulous comic book shop called Forbidden Planet. Maria said she totally went in there a while ago and thought of me. I bought some multi-sided dice and a replica of the original Star Trek phaser. I also got a sweet video of a Starship Enterprise model with working lights. I'd put it here, but for some reason, the video I got from Maria's camera isn't working on my computer. If I ever get it working, I'll stick it on my and J.R.'s Star Trek blog.
For some reason, this is the only picture I got at Forbidden Planet. I had to take it because I think it's a misuse of an apostrophe.
That night we did the only thing we planned in advance, which was going to Ninja New York. It's a wonderful restaurant that's run by ninjas. They lower you down into a secret cavernous lair and then sneak up on you whenever they can. Chelsie, Jaclyn and this Dan guy (who works at VH-1 Classic!) came along.
We got a couple of sushi rolls and some crab cakes. The following video shows a ninja preparing the clams special that Dan got. If you watch you'll see the ninja pick up the fire a couple of times.
I had to catch the plane after that and Maria and I said good-bye. Even though it wasn't planned as well as we would have liked, we had a great time and she was really good to cart me around. For those of you thinking about visiting, you'll enjoy it. Maria will treat you right and her place is really roomy and nice.
Anyway, on the flight home, Mike (the guy I met on the way in) said hi to me on the plane. He was in a much better mood than when I saw him last and said he had a great time as well.
Bravo showed Beverly Hills Cop.
On the way over, TNT was showing Starship Troopers. I watched a lot of that, but flipped around to Cartoon Network and VH1 Classic. The guy next to me was watching Starship Troopers too, so I always knew when the commercials were over. NPH is in ST. Remember that? I brought along two books and two magazines, but didn't crack any of them thanks to JetBlue and its media stimulants.
I rested, but didn't really sleep by the time we touched down at JFK at about 5:30 AM. I hate taxis, so as usual, I hopped onto the wonderful JFK Airtrain (a big reason I prefer JFK to LaGuardia). This was not before having the usual Airtrain metrocard trouble that I have every time I go. See, you take the Airtrain to the subway terminal, but the Airtrain costs five bucks which you pay for after you ride it if you're arriving in the city. After that, you need to buy another metrocard to ride the subway. The signage doesn't explicitly spell out the whole ordeal and I think they get a lot of people paying too much for an Airtrain pass when they wanted to be buying a metrocard subway pass. Anyway, during all this hubbub I met this guy named Mike from Salt Lake City who was visiting his friend in Brooklyn. I sort of helped him through the process even though I had to re-figure it out myself. It was his first time in NYC and he was eager, but skeptical.
So about 45 minutes later I arrived at Maria's apartment where we napped the morning away. She took work off. When we awoke we took a short jaunt through Wall Street. Maria lives at the heart of the financial district, which means her neighbors seem more stressed out than the rest of the city (except for her neighbor in 7F who, by the sound of it, has found a really really exciting way to relieve stress).
After the Wall Street adventure it was back to the apartment because I desperately needed to shave. I had grown quite accustomed to receiving compliments about the 'stache, but since it made my upper lip too hot and it had a bunch of food in it, I decided to shave it. Maria didn't want me to shave unless it was my decision and it totally was. Honestly, it was hard to keep it long enough just to show it to her once I came to New York.
That afternoon, we wound up near Times Square. I think this may have been the day we went to The Burger Joint, which is a favorite grease festival of Maria and her peeps. Pretty damn good. It's well hidden behind a curtain in the lobby of a ritzy hotel.
Rather than seeing a broadway show we hit a movie. I always feel a little bad when I see a movie in New York, when I could be doing hundreds of other things; but hey, a movie is a movie and I'm always up for it. Plus the theaters there are pretty neato because the auditoriums are stacked on top of each other and you need to take like five escalators to get where you're going. Anyway, we saw Get Smart. If I were in a worse mood I may have liked it less, but I thought it was pretty good. Honestly, I was shamefully looking forward to seeing it. Over the past few weeks I've been giggling to myself at some of the tv spots while others in the room seem to be rolling their eyes. See if you can guess the part that had Maria and me in stitches.
Did we eat again after that? Maybe.
We found ourselves back in the apartment that night which was fine because we had so much How I Met Your Mother and The Living Daylights to watch. I also brought my guitar controller for the Wii. With Maria's controller we were able to have an actual real guitar match or two. Her roomie, Chelsie joined us. Chels is quite adept and eager at the thing. After that, we introduced Jaclyn to the dice game. We spent Friday night in, but had a blast the old fashioned way. I got some awesome Chinese from down the street.
Saturday was a lot more New Yorky. We hit up the Broadway show Xanadu which was pretty funny, especially the female lead. It's based on the movie starring Olivia Newton-John and is about an ancient Greek muse who inspires a struggling artist to open a roller rink. Maria and I watched the movie together a few months ago. It has some golden moments, but for the most part it's semi-disastrous. To give you an idea of what kind of movie it is, I'm pretty sure it's Phoebe's favorite movie on Friends. Anyway, the Broadway musical had all the great music from the movie, but poked fun at the movie a little to much for me. I thought they could've relished the camp a little more than just stabbed it so much. Tony Roberts is in it. He did some great stuff in Annie Hall, a great film that's a lot about New York.
There's a really fabulous comic book shop called Forbidden Planet. Maria said she totally went in there a while ago and thought of me. I bought some multi-sided dice and a replica of the original Star Trek phaser. I also got a sweet video of a Starship Enterprise model with working lights. I'd put it here, but for some reason, the video I got from Maria's camera isn't working on my computer. If I ever get it working, I'll stick it on my and J.R.'s Star Trek blog.
For some reason, this is the only picture I got at Forbidden Planet. I had to take it because I think it's a misuse of an apostrophe.
That night we did the only thing we planned in advance, which was going to Ninja New York. It's a wonderful restaurant that's run by ninjas. They lower you down into a secret cavernous lair and then sneak up on you whenever they can. Chelsie, Jaclyn and this Dan guy (who works at VH-1 Classic!) came along.
We got a couple of sushi rolls and some crab cakes. The following video shows a ninja preparing the clams special that Dan got. If you watch you'll see the ninja pick up the fire a couple of times.
Sunday was church of course. I really liked the ward. The gospel doctrine teacher gave out full size candy bars. Afterward, we just happened to have a linger longer. I couldn't pass up a sloppy joe, but Maria resisted because she wanted to go to he Shake Shack afterward.
I must admit, I liked Shake Shack's food more than Burger Joint's. The burger patties were thinner at Shake Shack and I like that a lot more. I like it going down easy like sandwich meat. Even the cheese fries were really good and they were really just cheez-whiz on crinkle fries. I made a mistake of getting a hot dog instead, so I had to finish Maria's burger. The hot dogs didn't treat me too right this time. If I have one thing against this trip, it's the hot dogs. They've been better in the past.
Here are some photos from the roof of Maria's building.
Monday morning we hit Battery Park and saw the Statue of Liberty from a distance. That blob to the right of Maria is the statue.
I must admit, I liked Shake Shack's food more than Burger Joint's. The burger patties were thinner at Shake Shack and I like that a lot more. I like it going down easy like sandwich meat. Even the cheese fries were really good and they were really just cheez-whiz on crinkle fries. I made a mistake of getting a hot dog instead, so I had to finish Maria's burger. The hot dogs didn't treat me too right this time. If I have one thing against this trip, it's the hot dogs. They've been better in the past.
Here are some photos from the roof of Maria's building.
Monday morning we hit Battery Park and saw the Statue of Liberty from a distance. That blob to the right of Maria is the statue.
We did get better pictures of the statue, but I like this one of Maria. I guess I could actually bother to put up a better picture of the Statue of Liberty, but instead I'll just say, what, you've never seen a photo of Lady Liberty before? Look it up!
After that, just for fun we went to Barney's New York. I really only know Barney's from that Saturday Night Live sketch with Jimmy Fallon as the really snobby pretentious clerk who works there who is always folding shirts and looking down at the clientèle. You know the one, right? Fallon invariably cracks up whenever he does that character. Anyway, it was pretty trippy in there. Maria looked at a few shoes and most of them were about 700 bucks. There were a few jackets for like $2,500. Our clerk seemed pretty pretentious, but very helpful (perhaps all those Jimmy Fallon sketches has made Barney's salespeople want to be a bit more approachable). After trying on a couple of $100 cardigans (and frantically trying to re-fold them correctly) we started to head out.
On the way out we looked up, and we saw... guess! You wouldn't believe it. Here's a hint -- the second most profitable living Beatle. YES! RINGO FREAKING STARR! Ringo Starr went shopping with me at Barney's New York! So instead of leaving I said to Maria, let me stay and hang out with Ringo. So we played it cool and just kept shopping on that same floor. Fortunately I didn't weird him out since there was plenty of stuff to legitimately shop for.
I'm not sure what it is, but I uncharacteristically get star-struck when the moments come. I've been trying to work on my non-creepy celebrity approach dialogue, but I haven't thought up a really good one that makes me seem non-gushing.
Anyway, Ringo bought the same hoodie that I tried on. It could very well have been the exact same one since Ringo is probably my size. Like many people you see in movies or on tv, he's smaller in person than you'd think. I totally was like Ringo Starr is shopping in my wake! He looked good too. It was fun to hear him talk all Beatlesly. He and his wife (or whoever she was) got the same guy who was helping me to go find a t-shirt of a specific size so that they'd have two. The t-shirt said "peace" on the front. If anything, Maria and I agreed that our conversation with him should have been: "Really, Ringo? A "peace" t-shirt? Don't you think that's just a little too obvious?"
Anyway, if we didn't run into Ringo I wouldn't have found this snazzy track top marked down to $50 from $100. I think it adds seven years of sophistication.
After that, just for fun we went to Barney's New York. I really only know Barney's from that Saturday Night Live sketch with Jimmy Fallon as the really snobby pretentious clerk who works there who is always folding shirts and looking down at the clientèle. You know the one, right? Fallon invariably cracks up whenever he does that character. Anyway, it was pretty trippy in there. Maria looked at a few shoes and most of them were about 700 bucks. There were a few jackets for like $2,500. Our clerk seemed pretty pretentious, but very helpful (perhaps all those Jimmy Fallon sketches has made Barney's salespeople want to be a bit more approachable). After trying on a couple of $100 cardigans (and frantically trying to re-fold them correctly) we started to head out.
On the way out we looked up, and we saw... guess! You wouldn't believe it. Here's a hint -- the second most profitable living Beatle. YES! RINGO FREAKING STARR! Ringo Starr went shopping with me at Barney's New York! So instead of leaving I said to Maria, let me stay and hang out with Ringo. So we played it cool and just kept shopping on that same floor. Fortunately I didn't weird him out since there was plenty of stuff to legitimately shop for.
I'm not sure what it is, but I uncharacteristically get star-struck when the moments come. I've been trying to work on my non-creepy celebrity approach dialogue, but I haven't thought up a really good one that makes me seem non-gushing.
Anyway, Ringo bought the same hoodie that I tried on. It could very well have been the exact same one since Ringo is probably my size. Like many people you see in movies or on tv, he's smaller in person than you'd think. I totally was like Ringo Starr is shopping in my wake! He looked good too. It was fun to hear him talk all Beatlesly. He and his wife (or whoever she was) got the same guy who was helping me to go find a t-shirt of a specific size so that they'd have two. The t-shirt said "peace" on the front. If anything, Maria and I agreed that our conversation with him should have been: "Really, Ringo? A "peace" t-shirt? Don't you think that's just a little too obvious?"
Anyway, if we didn't run into Ringo I wouldn't have found this snazzy track top marked down to $50 from $100. I think it adds seven years of sophistication.
I had to catch the plane after that and Maria and I said good-bye. Even though it wasn't planned as well as we would have liked, we had a great time and she was really good to cart me around. For those of you thinking about visiting, you'll enjoy it. Maria will treat you right and her place is really roomy and nice.
Anyway, on the flight home, Mike (the guy I met on the way in) said hi to me on the plane. He was in a much better mood than when I saw him last and said he had a great time as well.
Bravo showed Beverly Hills Cop.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
macho trumps geek
I just gotta say really quick that I apologize in advance for not finishing the latest "In the Geekdom" comic. I've had lots of requests over the past couple of weeks, but I just haven't pumped it out. The biggest reason, perhaps is because the latest comic requires a little bit more of an artistic quality to it and I'm totally insecure about my drawing ability. The way I see it in my head is totally awesome, but I could just throw the idea up with stick drawings. The finished product will likely be between the two visualizations (probably closer to the stick drawings).Okay, and also, I'm leaving to New York in a few hours. If anybody needs me to pick anything up or take anything to Maria, let me know.
The Geekdom comic will be done early next week.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
while i'm online and posting
Yesterday was delightfully full, but out of nowhere today became suddenly enjoyable when the Homestarmy (Pete, really) got me a ticket to the Real Salt Lake game (with food!).
"Defender passes to mid-fielder! Mid-fielder holds it. Holds it! HOLDS IT!!!"
Yeah. Final score: 0-0.
I gorged myself on Famous Dave's brisket. I also bathed in an Eskimo Pie. It was really embarrassing. It pretty much got all over me. Everyone had to wipe me off.
"Defender passes to mid-fielder! Mid-fielder holds it. Holds it! HOLDS IT!!!"
Yeah. Final score: 0-0.
I gorged myself on Famous Dave's brisket. I also bathed in an Eskimo Pie. It was really embarrassing. It pretty much got all over me. Everyone had to wipe me off.
how many words does video paint?
You know your Tuesday was interesting when you get your hand stamped twice.
Yesterday was my brother Andy's birthday. He hadn't been to Lagoon in like five years and wanted to go pretty hard. So, with all his kids and many of his wife Emily's sibs with their kids, they made a day of it and invited me along. Since this was my first trip to Lagoon this year I was stuck with what is surely a Murphy's Law dilemma. Should I pay for a day pass for 40 bucks only to pay the same amount the next four times I come to Lagoon, or should I pay for the season pass for 100 bucks and only use it once? After doing some obvious math, I determined that $100 is less than $160 and bought what may very well be my only Lagoon pass for the year for $100.
It was good to get back to Lagoon for three reasons:
1) I was able to test out the wetness on the new ride called odySEA with my nephew Charlie. Amount of wetness on odySEA: 37.
2) When nobody else wanted to go, I was able to hit up my favorite ride, The Samurai. Andy said it best when he said it's like the ride in Happy World Land called the "Happy Go Barfy." Samurai was closed 95% of last year, so even though after the teen operators took 20 minutes to load everybody and then literally LOCKED THEMSELVES OUT OF THEIR OWN CONTROL BOOTH, it was still such a joyous experience that I didn't throw up after (almost though).
3) I managed to get some better video of Colossus. See, in the past year, I've become a sort of YouTube celebrity due to my Lagoon roller coaster point-of-view movies. They get thousands of hits more than my actual "films" (which actually get tens of hits). Last year's Colossus video had my finger obscuring the camera lens for most of the time. I've received about 50 YouTube text comments saying "move UR fingur dumb***." Hopefully this video will change all that which I'm embedding below.
And just for fun here's the 2008 Jet Star 2 video:
***
Tuesday night was also Joe's band's club debut. Parental Control is a cover band that specializes in 90s era tunes. Monica was kind enough to pick me up from Tuesday night RPG so we could make it on time. A bunch of us were there, but ultimately numbers were lessened by historic Game 6.
Here are a couple of clips:
I messed around with the long-time exposure on my camera to get some sorta cool show images:
Anyways, afterward we met up at the Pie Pizzaria, which is a place I swore I'd never go to again, but since I officially wasn't hungry I figured it would be a good time to go and not count it. It really was perfect, because I only drank one slice of Pie pizza while there.
They got this jukebox there and I scammed a quarter off Cinnamon and tried out a song I've never heard. Anybody know about "Four Sticks" by Led Zeppelin? It's from that album with the old man carrying a bunch of sticks on his head, but I heard that the reason it's actually called "Four Sticks" is because when they recorded it John Bonham was having a real hard time with the difficult drumming, so finally he just grabbed two sticks in each hand and totally nailed it. Monica totally didn't believe me, but I swear I read it very recently. Can anyone verify this?
Anyway, Tuesday was pretty busy.
Yesterday was my brother Andy's birthday. He hadn't been to Lagoon in like five years and wanted to go pretty hard. So, with all his kids and many of his wife Emily's sibs with their kids, they made a day of it and invited me along. Since this was my first trip to Lagoon this year I was stuck with what is surely a Murphy's Law dilemma. Should I pay for a day pass for 40 bucks only to pay the same amount the next four times I come to Lagoon, or should I pay for the season pass for 100 bucks and only use it once? After doing some obvious math, I determined that $100 is less than $160 and bought what may very well be my only Lagoon pass for the year for $100.
It was good to get back to Lagoon for three reasons:
1) I was able to test out the wetness on the new ride called odySEA with my nephew Charlie. Amount of wetness on odySEA: 37.
2) When nobody else wanted to go, I was able to hit up my favorite ride, The Samurai. Andy said it best when he said it's like the ride in Happy World Land called the "Happy Go Barfy." Samurai was closed 95% of last year, so even though after the teen operators took 20 minutes to load everybody and then literally LOCKED THEMSELVES OUT OF THEIR OWN CONTROL BOOTH, it was still such a joyous experience that I didn't throw up after (almost though).
3) I managed to get some better video of Colossus. See, in the past year, I've become a sort of YouTube celebrity due to my Lagoon roller coaster point-of-view movies. They get thousands of hits more than my actual "films" (which actually get tens of hits). Last year's Colossus video had my finger obscuring the camera lens for most of the time. I've received about 50 YouTube text comments saying "move UR fingur dumb***." Hopefully this video will change all that which I'm embedding below.
And just for fun here's the 2008 Jet Star 2 video:
***
Tuesday night was also Joe's band's club debut. Parental Control is a cover band that specializes in 90s era tunes. Monica was kind enough to pick me up from Tuesday night RPG so we could make it on time. A bunch of us were there, but ultimately numbers were lessened by historic Game 6.
Here are a couple of clips:
I messed around with the long-time exposure on my camera to get some sorta cool show images:
Anyways, afterward we met up at the Pie Pizzaria, which is a place I swore I'd never go to again, but since I officially wasn't hungry I figured it would be a good time to go and not count it. It really was perfect, because I only drank one slice of Pie pizza while there.
They got this jukebox there and I scammed a quarter off Cinnamon and tried out a song I've never heard. Anybody know about "Four Sticks" by Led Zeppelin? It's from that album with the old man carrying a bunch of sticks on his head, but I heard that the reason it's actually called "Four Sticks" is because when they recorded it John Bonham was having a real hard time with the difficult drumming, so finally he just grabbed two sticks in each hand and totally nailed it. Monica totally didn't believe me, but I swear I read it very recently. Can anyone verify this?
Anyway, Tuesday was pretty busy.
my acceptance speech to the arte y pico award
For the second time in my life I've won a blogging award. For the second time the award has come from Abel -- an accomplished writer, incredibly nice guy and above-average demeanor. In effect, it's praise worth bragging about. Officially the award is given out for "El arte es maravilloso, mas aun cuando se puede compartir con otros," at least according to the website. I can't argue with that, partially because I'm overcome with emotion and I really don't know any Spanish even thought I took Spanish for a couple of years.In an interesting turn, I'm going to now make a couple of petty complaints about receiving the award. First, is that most other authors who display the award have white backgrounds on their blogs. As a result I had to open up Photoshop for 15 seconds in order to blacken the background on the award image on this page. Second, I really can't stand pico de gallo. Whenever I'm at Cafe Rio I always have to tell them to leave the squishy gross stuff off my salad and I hate that and sometimes I forget.
I guess the rules of Arte y Pico are as follows:
1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award through creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.
2. Each award should have the name of the author with a link to their blog.
3. Award winners have to post the award with the name and link to the blog of the person who gave them the award.
4. Please include a link to the “Arte y Pico” blog so that everyone will know where the award came from.
Last time I won an award, the award pretty much stopped at me. That may be because I just re-awarded myself to some of my other blogs. This time I'll actually award some people who aren't me, so here goes:
1. Marmalade Memoirs
It may seem like I'm doing this just because she's my girlfriend, but her blog is awesome, outdated title and all, because it's great to hear what's going on in New York through an interesting non-tourist. Also, as a semi-Latina she may understand all this Spanish stuff going on up in here.
2. Simply Stephanie
Steph is a relative newcomer to the blogging scene, but she's totally posting with a vengeance.
3. Penny Fathrington
This particular blog isn't written by Penny himself (THAT would be amazing), but is a tribute to him by the fortunate souls who have come across him and tasted of his sweet sweet ribbon candy.
4. Locke Vs. Demosthenes
I threw this one an award because I need to remind myself to comment on the recent post on choosing candidates. Plus, it's a really good idea with some good writing. Either Locke and/or Demosthenes should run for office. One or both of them will probably rule the world some day.
5. Average Joe's Sports
This guy is not a sports drone all about stats and facts. He's got some real incendiary and thoughtful opinions that are awesome (even though I rarely actually agree with him especially when he DOESN'T talk about sports which actually is quite often, but is still just as good if not better than his sports insight).
Sunday, June 15, 2008
i am so not remiss
Yeah, it's time.
I've been pretty voidy lately and I apologize. I'll just quickly mention two things.
First, I'm very happy to report that while I wasn't blogging, I've been able to do my other internet stuff, namely my two podcasts -- the jon madsen movie commentary podcast and J.R. Watches Star Trek for the First Time. In the last week I've been able to upload episodes of both.
The Sixteen Candles commentary turned out to be pretty good. I really wish I had more people in the chatroom. Next time maybe we'll do it at a more convenient hour. Half of it was co-hosted by Dre, which made for some great conversation.
Many of you have been hesitant to give the Trek podcast a listen, and I understand that. You hate Star Trek, it's a basic human tendency. Still, in that case you may relate to our latest podcast in which we discussed some episodes that we really really hate. There's something for everyone! I am kind of happy though because our average rating on iTunes is four stars (based on one review (not us!)).
So go visit the podcast links on the right side of the page.
***
The other thing i've been thinking about lately is the NBA Finals. Tonight as I was watching game 5, I found myself switching sides. Over the past month I've been cheering for the Celtics, but tonight I mostly hoped the Lakers would win (in case you didn't hear, they did).
I'm getting really ambivalent and antsy about the whole thing. I'm not a true follower of basketball, but I'm sucked in now. Strangely, I feel that I'll have anxiety no matter who wins. I shouldn't get into major sporting events. I'm never really rewarded -- it's lose-lose. My problem is that my sense of feeling sorry for losers overshadows my sense of pride in winners.
During the past week I've been reading Phil Jackson's book called The Last Season. I can think of at least three things wrong with that title. The book is about the Lakers' 2003-2004 attempt at the NBA championship. A more fitting title would have been Why Coaching Kobe Bryant is Such a Ginormous Pain. Although I don't commend Jackson for obviously spreading around the poor image of Kobe Bryant, I've sort of come to know him through his words. Even though I don't necessarily think he's a super cool guy, just the fact that I know him a little bit better makes me empathize with him a bit more. For that reason I want the Lakers to win.
At the same time, Kobe plays for the Lakers. For that reason I want the Lakers to lose.
Then again, Derek Fisher's daughter has eye cancer, so for that reason I want the Lakers to win.
Of course, Derek Fisher's daugher has eye cancer, so actually I want the Lakers to lose. I could go on.
The absolute biggest reason for momentarily switching sides is because I want the series to go to seven games -- anything to keep us from being drenched neck-deep in baseball season is fine with me. Plus, it'd be great for the Celts to celebrate in their own town the night they take it all.
Hopefully that won't be on Tuesday. I'm pretty busy that night and I won't see the game (on Thursday too, now that I think about it). Game 6 will also be rough on Joe, who has his band playing that night. He's stressing out about getting people in the door. I think they get paid better if they get more people in the door, so it's really the place to be. Ironically, he's the sports blogger.
I've been pretty voidy lately and I apologize. I'll just quickly mention two things.
First, I'm very happy to report that while I wasn't blogging, I've been able to do my other internet stuff, namely my two podcasts -- the jon madsen movie commentary podcast and J.R. Watches Star Trek for the First Time. In the last week I've been able to upload episodes of both.
The Sixteen Candles commentary turned out to be pretty good. I really wish I had more people in the chatroom. Next time maybe we'll do it at a more convenient hour. Half of it was co-hosted by Dre, which made for some great conversation.
Many of you have been hesitant to give the Trek podcast a listen, and I understand that. You hate Star Trek, it's a basic human tendency. Still, in that case you may relate to our latest podcast in which we discussed some episodes that we really really hate. There's something for everyone! I am kind of happy though because our average rating on iTunes is four stars (based on one review (not us!)).
So go visit the podcast links on the right side of the page.
***
The other thing i've been thinking about lately is the NBA Finals. Tonight as I was watching game 5, I found myself switching sides. Over the past month I've been cheering for the Celtics, but tonight I mostly hoped the Lakers would win (in case you didn't hear, they did).
I'm getting really ambivalent and antsy about the whole thing. I'm not a true follower of basketball, but I'm sucked in now. Strangely, I feel that I'll have anxiety no matter who wins. I shouldn't get into major sporting events. I'm never really rewarded -- it's lose-lose. My problem is that my sense of feeling sorry for losers overshadows my sense of pride in winners.
During the past week I've been reading Phil Jackson's book called The Last Season. I can think of at least three things wrong with that title. The book is about the Lakers' 2003-2004 attempt at the NBA championship. A more fitting title would have been Why Coaching Kobe Bryant is Such a Ginormous Pain. Although I don't commend Jackson for obviously spreading around the poor image of Kobe Bryant, I've sort of come to know him through his words. Even though I don't necessarily think he's a super cool guy, just the fact that I know him a little bit better makes me empathize with him a bit more. For that reason I want the Lakers to win.
At the same time, Kobe plays for the Lakers. For that reason I want the Lakers to lose.
Then again, Derek Fisher's daughter has eye cancer, so for that reason I want the Lakers to win.
Of course, Derek Fisher's daugher has eye cancer, so actually I want the Lakers to lose. I could go on.
The absolute biggest reason for momentarily switching sides is because I want the series to go to seven games -- anything to keep us from being drenched neck-deep in baseball season is fine with me. Plus, it'd be great for the Celts to celebrate in their own town the night they take it all.
Hopefully that won't be on Tuesday. I'm pretty busy that night and I won't see the game (on Thursday too, now that I think about it). Game 6 will also be rough on Joe, who has his band playing that night. He's stressing out about getting people in the door. I think they get paid better if they get more people in the door, so it's really the place to be. Ironically, he's the sports blogger.
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