Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Art, Empire, and Liberty

Things are a little different now. We're almost all moved in (there are still some things at the rental house) and we're all basically exhausted all the time. I think a big part of it is that now instead of five steps to get anywhere we actually have to walk across the house sometimes. All this walking is even making the dogs tired. I'll try to get some pictures up soon. Anyway, I know I haven't posted in a while and all of you are anxiously awaiting some new information. I've got quite a gem this time, plus I have some news that made me very happy.

First I thought I'd share this website with everyone. It's not that special, but it provides at least 10 minutes of fun. I've always found it very entertaining to watch someone create a piece of art, and it turns out an invisible person is pretty fun to watch, too. It's a part of art.com and it's called artPad. You can also make your own pictures and post them so that others can watch a replay of your creation. Have some fun with it. Unfortunately there's no way to search through the "paintings" so there's you can't share them directly with me or anyone else.

Speaking of sharing things with others, I came across something very.....interesting. We all know that a new episode in the "Star Wars" saga is coming out on May 19 this year. What you may not know is that our dear Lord Vader believes that satin shirts and "disco hair" are signs of a weak-minded being easily bent to his will. Oh the power of the dark side. You can find out more opinions and stories of the evil Skywalker's escapades in his very own weblog. Who knew he had the time to keep a public log of his day-to-day life while attempting galactic conquest?

Finally, it was rumored that a law was going to be passed prohibiting all fast-forwarding and skipping of previews and warnings (such as the anti-piracy warning) on all DVDs. Some of us have a hard enough time making it through the commercials and previews in the theater, but I'm sure that none of us want to be forced to watch five or so minutes of junk every time we pop in our favorite DVD. Well, on to the good news: not only is this law not even close to coming into effect, it turns out that a bill in favor of the exact opposite has been passed. The U.S. government is in the process of forcing DVD player manufacturers to enable each machine to freely fast-forward, skip, rewind, and do whatever else there are buttons for on the remote. This means that the scary "CANNOT PERFORM FUNCTION" sign won't ever show itself when you just can't handle watching the three minute Universal Studios montage for the four-hundred and seventeenth time. Plus, this means one step closer to equal rights and freedoms for DVD players everywhere!

-J

PS - Ever heard the word "jank" before?

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

just don't ask

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it's an experiment

Thursday, April 07, 2005

Mechs are taking over

A few days ago Katy posted about a large robot with legs and arms and a cockpit and everything.

American mech Posted by Hello

Well, it appears this isn't the only one of these being made. Japan, birthplace of mech-obsession, has created their own version.

Japanese mech Posted by Hello

Both pages, by the way, have links to a video of the robots in action. Definitely worth checking out.

-J

Monday, April 04, 2005

A lot to make up for

In my humble opinion, George Lucas has been a little disappointing in his efforts to create the prequels to some of the world's greatest cinematic treasures. "The Phantom Menace" was grating because of annoying little Ani ("Are you an angel?") and perhaps the most vehemently despised character of all time, Jar Jar Binks ("Meesa no likey"). "Attack of the Clones" was a little bit better...maybe. It had a little more to offer in terms of non-annoyingness, but when it came down Anakin's reactions to pretty much everything, it can probably be agreed upon that he was more than a little whiney. Actually, he was basically a little bitch throughout the whole movie. Coming up on May 19 George Lucas has his final test before his loyal followers. The trailer for "Revenge of the Sith" looks great, and I have high hopes for the film...but this is what I've said about each of the new episodes in the "Star Wars" saga. There is, however, a glimmer of hope...a new hope, you might call it.

Even casual fans of the series may know that although he is a master story developer, George Lucas's directing isn't all that spectacular. "Empire Strikes Back" is often considered the best of them all, and believe it or not, this may be because Irvin Kershner was at the helm instead of good old Georgey. "Return of the Jedi" was also directed by someone else named Richard Marquand, but do you ever hear anyone say "A New Hope" (directed by Lucas) is their favorite? Anyway, the point is that none other than master filmmaker Steven Spielberg has taken on some role in the production of "ROTS." You can read about it here. In conclusion, I hope this has a positive effect on the overall film, because we all know Lucas really has to impress us this time.

-J

PS - It has been a concern of X-Men fans as to whether or not Halle Berry will be returning to the franchise the next time around. While it would be strange to have a new Storm, or even a Storm-less "X-3," it's not like Berry has been doing a wonderful job. Or maybe it's that she wasn't given the chance to explore the character the way it was meant to be. Well, that's what she thinks. Check out these little articles, (1 an 2) that explain, despite rumors of her selfishly wanting more onscreen time, why she is wary of participating the next time around. After all, Storm is supposed to be a much stronger character.

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