SynaPOPsis

To the FUTURE!

2010-04-05T20:13:00.005-04:00

With the release of the Ipad comes guesses of what the future will hold with this magical device. I've heard it be described as a music/video/video game/book/ store all rolled into one. I have also heard described as a big Ipod touch. I'll admit that I'm a Mac guy, I own a Mac laptop, an Ipod, an Ipod Touch and look upon enviously at those with Ipad's. From what I've seen, they look totally awesome but I realized when they were first announced they weren't for me and my needs and I didn't have $500 (minimum) to drop on a new piece of hardware.

I did make m think about the future though and how we are going to consume media. Rumor has it that Hulu and Netflix are developing apps for the product, two things I would love to have on my Touch. I love the idea of being able to just watch a TV show or movie on a mobile device the size of a small TV. Video game developers are also excited about the potential of the wider screen and the advancements in touchscreen technology. Comic books creators are going gaga over how sharp their products are looking on the Ipad. With digital distribution on the rise, the Ipad may very well change how comics are made and sold. Marvel released their own app on the day of the Ipad's release to show off the comics. As a comic book reader I don't mind reading well formatted comic readers on my Ipod touch and have even purchased several issues, at a ridiculously low price of .99, and am proud to know that I will have them forever.

In the long run is leaps in technology helping or hurting us financially and our ability to enjoy the media?

Movies/TV? A single movie can be torrented or streamed for free (illegally or legally) but you need something to watch it on, like a computer that cost a couple hundred dollars (minimum). The quality is often questionable. You can legitimately buy a digital copy of a movie for about $15 or digitally rent for $5. If you want a physical copy it's about the same. You can even buy a portable DVD player for about $50. TV shows are a little more expensive if you buy by the season but you usually get an individual episode for about .99, and that is of course without the extra cost of HD or BluRay.

Video Games? All 3 of the major systems cost a couple hundred dollars by themselves, that not including controllers and extra peripherals. Games are about $50. You can buy vintage games online for pretty cheap. I know you buy an SNES for about $10 on a Wii. You can get free games on your Ipod Touch or relatively cheap versions of them is you wish to upgrade.

Music? Record sales have been dropping since the introduction of Napster. Once a system of free music was introduced people realized they would never have to pay for music again. The SRP of most new CD's ranges from $15-20. Amazon has an amazing selection of CD's for $5. Apple has most of their CD's at 9.99 and individual songs at .99. Again, you'll need a computer or mp3 player to play the songs. You could go the old-fashioned way and find a cheap CD player.

Books/Comics- If a books in the public domain, a vast number of classics are, then you get a good number of books for your E-reader (Kindle, Nook, smart phone) free. If it's newer you're probably going to be paying between $5-10. Authors who self-publish will offer their books at a discounted price. Like I said before I've bought issues of comics for .99, while Marvel is offering their selection for 1.99. If you want a hard copy, most books run between $12-17 for a hardcover. Used book stores have deep discounts. You can also go to library and pick up a free copy.

Most of these industries are being threatened by technology and movements have begun to save these fledgelings businesses. Being retro is cool. As I contemplated the impact of the Ipad, I realized on of these has the best chance of surviving despite it's alleged label of archaic.

Books.

When it comes down to it, you don't need a hundred dollar device to read a book/magazine/pamphlet/comic. You don't need to plug it in for it to work. You grab it and go. You can't grab a copy of Mario Bros without having a DS, you can't listen to the new Gorillaz song without your mp3 or CD player, you can't watch an episode of Community without your video-abled Ipod. I don't need a special line of code to crack open a good book. Buffering is never an issue. No blue screen or pinwheel of death.

Just words. Words not enhanced or hindered by technology. Plus it's FUNdamental.

Just a thought.

Love and Stereo- A Request

2010-03-05T01:58:00.004-05:00

Before you read the rest of this, go ahead and click here.

Good to go? Awesome.

I was hesitant to talk about Love in Stereo because I figured anyone who would read this, would already know about it but I realized the Internet goes well beyond my friends and family and I hope this will reach those who I don't know.

Though it's HQ'd about 700 miles away (12 driving hours), I feel right at home with Love in Stereo. Started by some friends I went to college with ,Love in Stereo is a website dedicated to simply "helping". There are an infinite number of problems in the world and I hope we can eradicate some of them in my lifetime.

My friend Brad Montague put out a request for writers and I offered my assistance. I looked online for Charleston non-profits that took creative approaches to solving problems. I sent out about 5 emails to local organizations and one of the first people to get back to me was John Caspian of SideWalk Chalk Charleston, a group of volunteers who go into Title 1 schools and help kids develop writing skills . I met John for some coffee and we talked about the program; how it got started, what they are doing in the schools, and the plan for the future. As we talked, the voice in the back of my head kept nudging at me to ask him the most important question, "What can I do to help?". The next week I was in the classroom at Goodwin Elementary helping kids write stories about scary tornadoes, stinky bathrooms, career day, and even Mario Kart. I had told myself that this year I would find a volunteer project and this was/is the perfect fit. The two hours a week I'm there fly by and I just want to stay longer so I can make sure the kids are on the right track. I leave smiling and am generally happier about life. I know this won't totally eliminate illiteracy or make the kids perfect writers but I'm doing SOMETHING.

I guess that's the point of all this, do something. We can talk about all the problems in the world but people don't need our words, they need our actions.

So please, if you haven't already, check out Love in Stereo. If you have dropped by, go again, they update regularly. Buy a shirt. (See how cool they are?) Listen to the music. Watch the videos. Find a cause. Write an article. If you're in Henderson, go to the party. Join the Facebook page and the Twitter .

"Together We Are Louder"

*Sidenote- I'm always looking for new groups/organizations to talk to and interview. If you know of an awesome organization, drop me the contact info.

What of the Critique and the Review?

2010-03-05T00:50:00.004-05:00

Do reviews even matter?

Back when I worked on "What Have I Been Missing?", I was bewildered by the terrible selections of entertainment they seemed to have ridiculous popularity. Critics would rip into them, leaving a gutless carcass but people would go out in droves and partake in it anyway. Meanwhile, a show like 30 Rock struggle with ratings and the comic Unknown Soldier ranks 221 out 300 top selling titles. Both of them receive rave reviews have a hard to gathering a sizable audience. It's seems no matter what praise/hate you heap upon something some peoples mind are already made up.

On Twitter I follow a large number of writers and artist who dismiss criticism as people being mean and nasty. They frequently say they don't read online criticism and that aspiring writers shouldn't care if they get a bad review, what's important is that you are writing. I think this gives a false hope that everything someone writes is good or publishable. Most of this is said from one professional writer to another as a form of comradery but I think it's a bit dishonest.

As a side note, most Internet criticism, professional and amateur, is childish and vindictive. Most reviewers have lame agendas and are pandering to their audiences. They focus on some minor thing outside of the thing they are reviewing instead of the piece of work.

So, are reviews and critiques even relevant? What's the point of talking about something when people are so dug into their opinions? Should negative feedback be given if it's just going to be seen as an affront?

SkinPut

2010-03-05T00:41:00.002-05:00

All throughout my years in school, I frequently used my arms and the back of my hands to make notes to myself. The logic was that it was all right there, instead of writing it down on paper and losing it. Of course the flaw in my logic was that any hint of perspiration would begin to erase my hard work. Now, I dutifully write notes to myself on scraps and in my notebooks but every now and then I catch myself scribbling on my hand. Then I saw this:

How awesome is that?! I love that we can make technology so advanced that all you need is touch. I know the screen is from a mounted projector but wouldn't it be revolutionary if you could graft a nano-screen to your skin? Imagine using your arm as a touch screen the same way you do your IpodTouch or other smart phone. I would love to take notes that way. Find out more about SkinPut here.

Dragon Baseball!

2010-03-05T00:28:00.004-05:00

I'm not a sports-person by any means, unless we're talking mid 90's basketball or the Harlem Globetrotters, but this is a pretty sweet picture.
It's part of the 1988 Gallery Show in LA/San Fransisco for "The Greatest Moments in Sports History." For a little history behind the print go here. Pretty wild, right?

Some songs and movies to end the week

2010-02-12T01:46:00.002-05:00

Songs for . . . Continued

The Wrong Type of Guy Pt.1

Part 2

I'm no fan of the "romantic comedy", but then again who else but 14 year old girls do? They are two films that fall under that category that I always love to watch. Goofy enough for a man, enough a "love story" for the ladies.

The Baxter

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Let's end on a high note, a sad song about love, perhaps the saddest:

Songs for . . . (Different brand of girl/Not working out)

2010-02-11T01:36:00.002-05:00

Songs for . . . Continued

For a different kind of girl. She's about more than walks on the beach.

For when it doesn't work out.

Songs for . . . (Feelings/Signals)

2010-02-10T00:56:00.003-05:00

Songs for . . . Continued

Is it a formula or feeling?

For getting your signals mixed

Songs for . . .(Obsessed/Your Favorite Comic Book Nerd)

2010-02-10T00:20:00.007-05:00

A certain day is coming up at the end of the week and I figured I would highlight some of my favorite songs in relation to the holiday and different aspects of what it's suppose to represent.

For the one you you can't get over

For the one you'll do anything for, no matter if it's a doomsday machine or having to kill your evil twin from Dimension X.

Four Color Love Story- The Metasciences
(Big Barda and Mr. Miracle)

More to come through the week . . .

Still talking about LOST

2010-02-09T13:50:00.004-05:00

I usually stick to talking to people I know about LOST but I like to go around the 'net and see what other peoples theories are about the show. I like to visit USA Today's site "Pop Candy" because everybody is pretty well behaved and they do a great job of picking up on things I completely missed. For the first time, I commented on the season premiere and my comment got on the Top 10 list. (Number 2)I'm Internet famous! Not really but it's still pretty neat.

Also I drew this at work.

In the middle is Ben, next to him is Hurley,underneath them is the Smoke Monster, Locke, and Faraday. Of course in the top right hand corner is Batman. He will be making a special guest appearance.

Rose, marry me

2010-02-02T02:05:00.002-05:00

Rose, I know you're a married woman but come on now . . . Nothing last forever.

I'll grow a beard if it makes you feel better.

In responae to this.

Top 5 LOST Characters

2010-02-02T00:37:00.003-05:00

LOST has one of the better casts on television today. The few characters that are duds or didn't click, the creators have killed. When it comes to favorite characters on the show, I've noticed most people tend to sway to Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Charlie, Locke or someone considered apart of the MAIN cast. Besides Hurley, who gets an honorary 6th place mention, I never connected with those characters and didn't care about their backstories. I always groan and roll my eyes when a Jack or Kate episode is introduced. I know they're important to the overall story but those are two are just terrible. Whiny, self-important, habitually make the same mistakes, yellers, and border-line incompetent. I will not be upset if the smoke monster eats them, or whatever smoke monsters do. So, I present the 5 best LOST characters:

5) Ann Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez)

I can hear the angry yells and curses on my name now. No one I've talked to likedsAnna Lucia. . I though she was a great leader, as opposed to Jack. She was tough, took charge of the situation, and didn't take guff from anyone. She out-Sawyered Sawyer himself. I just thought she brought an interesting dynamic to the milque-toast cast. Plus she's hot and she killed Shannon!

4) Faraday (Jermey Davies)
We only got to meet him for a short while but Daniel Faraday was the best little crazy physicist. He was a young Mr. Wizard who had few screws loose. His manic performance was always a delight to watch as a man totally uncomfortable in his own body. He's was the smartest man on the island but couldn't explain what was going on. He's a bit of jerk for letting his old assistance die alone but he's racked with guilt. He's just a really nerdy guy who get in over his head, no thanks to his mom.

3)Desmond (Henry Ian Cusik)BRUTHA! You saw that one coming. Something about Desmond makes him a perfect everyman in all the unusual situation, even though out most of the characters he's had the weirdest life experiences. Once he was introduced, Desmond became a favorite character of mine and it was defiantly cemented in the episode "The Constant". Desmond's conscious traveled back and forth through his life as he made his way to the island(with the help of Penny and Faraday) and he slowly reunited with his true love, Penny. Even though they had only seen them together as couple for those few minutes during the episode, you couldn't help but cry tears of happiness when they found each other. It's fried in my brain as on the more beautiful moments on TV. Except for killing that one guy, Desmond is a pretty stand up gentleman. I have a great fear that something is going to happen to him or Penny, especially since Ben promised revenge against Penny.

2)Ben (Michael Emerson)

Truly great villains are hard to come by. A great villain will do the impossible, they'll make you like them, even adore them. I'll admit, I have Stockholm's Syndrome for Benjamin Linus. I would follow him anywhere. He has a wonderfully dry sense of humor, honor only to himself, and is a master manipulator. You think Lex Luthor or the Green Goblin is "evil"? Ben would take take them to school and leave them there. Unfortunately his greed for himself is his downfall. This last season we've seen him broken with his tail between his legs, doubting his own existence. I hope he gains his confidence back and become the villain we all know and love.

1)Bernard/Rose (Sam Anderson/L. Scott Caldwell)
Yes, the ultimate power couple is the best characters on the show. From the moment we met them, you couldn't help and fall in love with his couple. Out of all the characters they are the most real, the most we can inspire to be. Sure, they don't always agree but it's not whiny and pathetic like John and Skate + 8. They're just plain adorable. After all the craziness on the island they realize they just want to be left alone, do their own and be at peace. I love the quote they give the LOSTIES about the current goings on. "It's always something with you people. . .we traveled back 30 years in time and your still finding ways to shoot at people." You can't help but love these two. Bernard and Rose, you win at LOST!
(Something tells me they are the skeletons in the cave from season 1. :( )

Fading to White(Black)

2010-02-02T00:06:00.009-05:00

LOST

(5 seasons of Spoilers are on full blast!)

It's one of those pop-culture phenomenons I never intended to get caught up on. Sure, friends in college would chatter about it, look up theories during class, and fantasize about main characters but having not seen it I simply ignored it. My senior year (S3?) I finally relented about borrowed the first season for a friend and was immediately hooked. Time between classes was spent trying to watch as many episodes as possible. I was the guy who wanted to talk about things from the past seasons during the eight month long breaks. When I got home, I did my best to catch up before the next season started. Once I started work I scheduled my nights around watching the show interrupted. If I miss an episode I have to make sure I watch it the next morning before I go into work so it won't be spoiled by my co-workers. My dad and me have weekly LOST chats to talk about the and see if we missed anything. I will probably annoy all my non-LOST friends on Twitter with my inane rambling about the show. And why not, it's the last season of an incredible show that you have to talk about after watching it.

Why does LOST work? It's a great blend of drama, action, humor, pop-culture, science-fiction, people getting hit on the head with blunt objects, time travel, polar bears, mythology, religion, symbols, and much more. There is literally something for everyone. I understand how people can get frustrated and confused but I believe if you keep with the basic of, a bunch of people are on a weird island, you can understand the show. For as a deep as a show as it is, I'm surprised we've gotten this far. LOST is a very smart and layered show that requires pie charts, genealogy trees and timelines to keep the plot straight. This can be hurtful and helpful at the same time.

As I've proved in the past (Jay Leno), the American viewing public doesn't do too well when it comes to intelligent show that require you to think. The shows non-linear story telling is enough to drive the simplest of Neilson viewer to an episode of CSI. "I don't get all these durn flashbacks and forwards. There's too many characters. ect." This show was practically DOA.

On the other hand, because the show has so much to offer, people began picking up on the little clues and hints and a very aggressive fanbase was formed. Even my father fancies himself a LOST theory-ologist. It's a very engaging show that lets it's fans do all the work. They never ask us to put a puzzle together, we do it for them.

There's a million other reason's LOST is a great show and I'll explore a few of them over the week but I think this a good base to build upon. Remember Tuesday, Feb 2, 2010 at 8pm (EST) is the premiere date. I believe the first hour is a recap and then a two hour premiere. I will be there with my other LOSTies at work waiting to see our buddies from Oceanic 815.

In case you need to catch up:

Lissie-Everywhere I go

2010-01-30T19:19:00.003-05:00

(Not really 8 minutes, only about 3 1/2)

Another Joss Whedon show has come to an abrupt end. This song played at the end of the final episode of "Dollhouse" and it was one of the few songs that made me rush to my computer to find it. It's such a beautiful song and was a fitting end to the show. I'll probably talk more about "Dollhouse" later but I wanted to share this song.

La Fortaleza de Soledad

2010-01-18T20:34:00.005-05:00

The picture below is of some giant crystal formation in Mexico.

More info here

Look familiar?

That's right. They found Superman's Fortress of Solitude! In . . . Mexico? Technically, it's suppose to be in the Artic but maybe Supe's got a better deal on property taxes.

With this revelation, it can only mean that we are close to finding Aquaman's Atlantis (or Sub Diego) Wonder Woman's island home of Themyscira and the greatest treasure of all, Batman's Batcave. Let's get cracking science and find my childhood tree houses.

The real best movie. . . ever

2010-01-17T23:09:00.002-05:00

Avatar just won the Golden Globe for best drama. Obviously, the foreign press never saw this movie:

Even though I can't tell what's going on, it' looks a lot more interesting that Avatar. Get your act together Golden Globes!

Helping Haiti

2010-01-15T21:07:00.004-05:00

In light of my previous post I would like to talk about something serious:

As you all know earlier this week an earthquake struck the island of Haiti. You've seen the pictures and have seen the stories. It's been emotionally draining over the week watching everyday as the video pour in from over there showing the death and destruction. Like the rest of you, it kills me that I just can't get up and go over there and physically help.

I don't have a personal connection to Haiti but a lot of my friends from college have visited there on mission trips and are emotionally invested in the people and the island. They've inspired me to do my best to reach out and help the people of Haiti. Below are some legitimate resources to check out if you want to donate money or your time:

Center for International Disaster Information

American Red Cross

White House-Help Haiti

Remember just because it's the end of the week doesn't mean it's the end of the tragedy for the people of Haiti. This is an ongoing mission.

A quick side note. You may have heard what Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh are saying about the earthquake, the people involved, and those trying to help. Don't listen to them. If you haven't heard what they've said ,then just ignore them. The things they said are lies. Also remember, just because they say terrible thing, you don't have to do the same to retaliate. Your hate/anger justifies their hate/anger.

Do the right thing.

Your either with us or against us.

2010-01-15T13:50:00.011-05:00

Art by the Always Awesome Dustin Nguyen

It's been a long week for the fellas at late night.

At beginning of the week rumors swirled that Jay Leno's show had been canceled. Then it was revealed Leno was going back to his regular 11:35 slot with Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon to follow. That turned into Conan issuing a statement saying he refused to follow Leno. As of now it looks like Leno will take back "The Tonight Show" and Conan has been put out to pasture.

I talked about the whole Leno debacle at length when it first debut and it's safe to say I haven't changed my mind.

NBC has admitted that the Leno show experiment was a failure. To give them credit it was a good idea on paper. Make a cheap show to show five nights a weeks instead of spending a lot money on a scripted show. Tough times call for tough choices. It WOULD have worked if they had a quality program. Quality over quantity. People will watch good shows that are entertaining. NBC and Jay Leno promised that the new show would revolutionize TV and that it wouldn't be like "The Tonight Show". Except it was. Like a chop shop, they may have taken out some parts but it's basically the same show, the same terrible show.

As Leno's rating slipped, it directly affected the affiliates who, again, were promised it would a hit and keep people watching the local news afterwords. As someone who does work for a NBC affiliate with one of those local news stations, I can tell you that we lost 50% of our viewership in almost every demographic because of Leno. TV stations all of the country are struggling because people aren't buying advertisement like they use to (the economy) and that's our main source of income. NBC and the stations themselves went out of their way to heavily (annoyingly) promote Leno's show because we were promised that the Leno brand would save us. Leno's bad ratings get transferred directly to the news. Instead of watching Leno, people are using that time to catch up on shows they recorded on their DVR's.

I say all this because of Conan. He inherited "The Tonight Show" after Jay "retired". NBC moved him and his staff across the country to put on a show. Yet, Jay didn't retire, he wanted to still do his shtick. In reality, Jay's never left. Conan still has to follow Jay and his terrible ratings. I believe the reason Conan's ratings weren't up to par were because Leno's toxic ratings permeating the towns drinking water aka, the rest of the night. If you aren't watching Leno, then you probably won't watch the news, and you most likely won't watch Conan. The only person the networks should hang out to dry is Leno for not living up to his end of the bargain.

NBC messed up big time but instead of trying to fix the problem (Leno), they are making it worse. Online support for Conan is through the roof due in part to Conan's demographic being those people who know how to use the Internet. #TeamCoco was a trending topic but nothing for #TeamLeno. Of course, Conan is the underdog in all this. I would hazard to guess the Internet is part of the problem too. People in their 20's are Conan's main demo but we're all too busy with our DVR's, watching video online, having lives, hula-hoops, loud music, and not watching TV. We're are very difficult demo to keep hold of because there is so much out there. Yet, when you threaten something we like, but don't neccesarliy watch on a regular basis, we take it personally.

The only people who support Leno are the network and Jerry Seinfeld, which comes from the two being BBF's. What I don't get is the network kowtowing to Leno and his demands? He is a proven failure. He whines about his time slot and they are happy to oblige. Someone on Twitter put it best "So Conan fails and he lose his show. Leno fails and he gets his show back." Sound fair? Of course not. Imagine two kids get an F on a test and the teacher allows only one of them to retake it because he's been held back a few times. What makes it worse is that Leno is whining on his own show about being canceled ,which isn't true because he's just being moved to a different time. Then he has the gall to say Conan should thank him for the ratings boost. Conan earned those numbers by being the Jay-Z of comedy while all Leno can muster is a poor Vanilla Ice impression. If you're going to kick Conan off the air for losing viewers, Leno should have to pack his bags (again) too.

You know what's hilarious about this whole mess? Conan's ratings are skyrocketing while Leno continues to hemorrhage viewers. Obviously it's due to a renewed interest in what the late night hosts are going to say about the situation but I think it also proves that Conan can bring in the people.

It comes down to two different style of hosting. Leno is a very middle of the road comedian. He doesn't aim too high in case his audience doesn't have at least a G.E.D. His appeal is the middle-class working person who likes working on cars, watching cars, and talking about cars. There's nothing inherently wrong about this but it's a direct aim at this Middle-America, NASCAR, blue collar, demographic that helped The Blue Collar Comedy Tour become a sensation. Lowest-Common-Denominator jokes that any hillbilly can enjoy. Never aiming for anything higher or different. Some highlights of the new show are Beer Pong Shot of The Week and The Green Car Challenge. Can you even name ONE classic Leno bit? Anything that has stood the test of time? Anything that doesn't require Leno to react to people or things sent in? Something actually written by a writer?

Conan on the other hand isn't afraid to be different and out there. He's a nerd, dork and dweeb and we love him for that. He's the kid in school who was hilarious not because he repeated the joke he stole off the Internet but because he was original and pulled it off. Sure, he has some weird stuff but he doesn't care what some executive thinks about it. He's having fun. This is what the network is afraid of. They want that coveted demographic that Leno resonates with because they're safe and predictable, like Leno. To please his NBC master, Conan stopped doing some of his more popular segments because they were deemed to "crazy" for 11:35. I admire because Conan because he is crazy talented, in fearless in the face of creativity and knows how to stick it to his bosses. This whole situation is very frightening to someone like myself who would like to get into television. It proves that creativity is not the commodity it use to be. The message the networks are sending is, trying something different will not serve you well.

Then there was the time he participated in this during the writer strike, a monumental milestone in late night TV:

Classic. Brutal. Awkward.

Leno and his mooks doesn't have the creative know-how to conjure up that hilarity. They rely on drunk people on the streets to not know common knowledge.

Sadly, it looks the time for Conan is coming to a close. As I type this, NBC is trying to figure out how much money they're willling to pay Conan just to leave and not appear on another station. That's right, they're breaking his contract and barring him from station shopping. A lot of people suggest he go to FOX, I can only assume this is because they don't have a late show but I don't think that's a great idea. FOX doesn't have a good track record with comedies that aren't by Matt Groening (The Simpson) or Seth McFarlane (Family Guy and it's clones). I would suggest he go to Comedy Central or start something on the same Internet that loves him so much.

In closing, Conan O'Brien deserved better. He got back-stabbed by a station that didn't appreciate him or give him a fair chance. A station that was more concerned about fulfilling the needs of a dying/poisonous/obsolete brand that has infuriated and financially damaged affiliates. Whatever you do Mr. O'Brien I know you will make people laugh and will have great success. All the best. My babies.

Icon from the Magical Mike Mitchell

(You and I)

2010-01-12T23:58:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I completely forget I have awesome songs on my Ipod. This is one of them.

I wish it would pop up more often.

Back in My Day

2010-01-07T20:09:00.009-05:00

Dinosaurs. Thunder-Lizards. Horses of the Old Testament.

These creatures of old captivated us in our youth and I fear we've lost our respect for them. Kid's would rather listen to their Ipod gizomos and do ollies off their razor scooters than hear tales of a T-Rex battling a Mastodon. For shame. That's why I'm making it my mission to uncover the lost fossils of pop-culture dinosaurs. It's like Jurassic Park, the website.

Let's start off with what can only be described as the Urkel of Dinosaurs. No matter what "cool" thing he tried he still looks like a nerd.

Denver the Last Dinosaur :

Denver was the perfect mixture of dinosaur, rock & roll, multi-ethnic teenagers and typical 80's-ness. Those kids were lucky it was Denver who popped through the time hole and not a pterodactyl or a velociraptor. It looks like all the other dinosaurs weren't cartoonified (real)and were hungry for teenager meat, unless I misunderstood the science behind time holes. (They don't cartoonify things, do they?) I was 4 years old when the show debuted and to this day I don't remember exactly what the show was about. I know Denver skateboarded and played guitar but I don't recall if the gang went on adventures or solved crimes. Stupid Denver.

Dinosaucers

It was basically a Transformers ripoff except instead of machines it was dinosaurs. A group of teenagers were still involved but this time they're orphans because you can't have your parents involved when your out adventuring with dinosaurs. I do like how the Tyranos totally photobomb the group picture at the end of the opening sequence.

Power Rangers

More teenagers (with attitude!) but this time they're showing the dinosaurs who's in charge by riding inside of them. Now that I think about it, Power Rangers is just the inverse of Transformers. I still don't understand why they 5 separate dinosaurs when they always morphed (Transformed?) into one giant robot. Why not just have the one giant robot on standby ready to go? Because they were stupid teenagers, that's why.

*For whatever weird reason the owners of the Power Rangers won't let embed the original opening sequence but it's not like we all don't have that thing memorized.

Dinosaurs

The only reason this made it on air was because it was the 90's and "Muppet Fever" was sweeping the nation yet again. *Warning Muppet Fever will turn your skin to felt, your eyes bulge out, and you'll bounce up and down when you walk. Dinosaurs took the tried and true formula for a family sitcom: dumpy/dumb dad + frustrated mom + rascally teenagers + grumpy in-law + catchphrase spewing baby = Hilarity. If you took away the rubber Godzilla suits it's a typical sitcom with dinosaur/prehistoric jokes. In other words, the Flintstones.

Land Before Time

I don't know why but this movie has always stuck with me. I think part of it was the whole epic journey aspect of traveling across wicked and wild lands. Maybe it was seeing all these creatures I had only read about move about and seeing them interact with each other in a life like way. I even use to have the plastic cups from Pizza Hut (?) with their pictures on it. This will probably always be one of my favorite childhood movies.
There's always these guys:

"Yep, yep, yep"

"I fly?"

I so wanted punch Cera the Triceratops in her stupid loud face. She made me so mad.

Jurassic Park

As kids we talked about how great dinosaurs were and how awesome they would be if they were still alive and could hang out with us. Those were just the after affect of being exposed to the likes of Denver. This movie showed us the folly of our childhood dreams. "Why yes a dinosaur theme park is a great idea! That T-Rex won't bother anybody. I sure hope our electric fence never shorts out. Sure, bring your kids. It'll be fun for the entire family." There's always that allure though, to bring the dinosaurs back and make them our best friends.

You'd think we learn our lesson after this:

Let's see what today's kids are into dinosaur wise:

Dino Squad

Dinosaurs for Generation Extreme! (Whatever you kids are calling yourself today) It's like took everything from dinosaur past and blended into a fine smoothie called Dino Squad.

Mutli-ethnic teens with attitude-Check!
Rad transportation-Check!
Bad guy with dinosaur name-Check!
Dinosaurs-Check!

Ugh.

So we went from super goofy and cute to dangerous and life threatening only to back to goofy and crime fighting. Let's go back to our classic dinosaur roots. Fossils. (lame joke?)

*Did I miss your favorite dinosaur related show or movie?

Seasame Street and the Mystery of Freindship

2010-01-05T00:59:00.003-05:00

I know I post and talk a lot about the Muppet's on here but this is one of my favorite things I've ever seen by them.

It's like an Abbot and Costello routine with talking pieces of felt. I was waiting for steam to pour out of Kermit's ears (whatever frogs hear with) as his frustration compounds with Cookie Monster.

Cookie Monster's speech about friendship has me laughing like Elmo which means it's the funniest thing ever. I also love the fact he calls Kermit "Frog" as though that were his name.

I love this video, do me a favor and love it back.

Jay Z (On To The Next One)

2010-01-05T00:23:00.011-05:00

Maybe some other time I will gush over how much I admire Jay Z as an artist but I want ya'll to gander at his latest videos:

(Lyrics NSFW)

On To The Next One (Blueprint 3) is just enthralling. It's like the thing was filmed into a warehouse converted into an art studio.Like a lot of Jay Z's video this one is filmed in black and white and it nothing less than striking and pure visual enjoyment.

You really don't know what the images mean but they are powerful non-the-less. They come at you in a rapid fire motion like a sequence from "Requiem for a Dream". It's like they are telling bits and pieces of a narrative and you have to fill in the rest.

I love the whipping cords going with the beat because it's very close visualy to how a sound wave looks when you digitize it.
I get goosebumps when I see this androgynous shinobi-geisha warrior priming for attack and then leaping at it's unseen prey.

This video blows me away every time I watch it. It's one of those that require repeat viewing. It doesn't hold onto the current rap tropes of fast cars (only the one and it was standing still), tons of gestating women, a massive posse, and showing off one ridiculous wealth. It's a simple and well done video that already has my vote for one of the best of 2010. It's early, I know.

You have to get it up for the H.O.V.

Sterogum Mix 09

2009-12-26T15:46:00.004-05:00

I love me some remixes. Girl Talk, Hood Internet, Danger Mouse and the people at team9 put out some of the best ones. Every year I look forward to the Sterogum and team9 "Mysplice" where they take some of the hottest songs of the years and some classic favorites. Check out the last 3 years mixes here.

Go ahead and hit play enjoy:

My favorite ones from this mix have to be:

+Pheonix Gets Cured
It's a perfect match. I love that little echo/reverb affect.

+Missy's Girls
Nice electronic bootyshaker.

+Chilled Monkey
Most people would think it impossible but you can make a remix of a Pixies song. Here is another.(I'm in total mind-blowing love with this song.)

+Surprise Gift
I'm not familiar with either group but it's makes me think of a Vampire Weekend rap.

Avatar Review

2009-12-26T13:51:00.007-05:00

"Change the way you watch movies forever."

That's what James Cameron, the director of Avatar, said about his latest movie. To a point he's right.

Avatar starts off with a Marine Jack Sully being recruited to take his dead brothers place in the exploration of the alien planet Pandora. Pandora is very hostile ecologically and biologically to the visiting humans, so they have developed Avatars which are made up the human and Na'Vi DNA. The Na'Vi are seven feet tall, blue, cat like creatures who are very primitive and connected to Pandora. The scientist on the mission want to integrate themselves with the Na'Vi to learn more about their society. The military want to harvest the very lucrative mineral unobtainium which just so happens to be under the Na'Vi's home, a huge tree. Meanwhile Jake has been doing his best to become one with the Na'Vi's by learning their customs, language and even falling in love with one of them. Despite all this the Na'Vi don't trust the humans and their intentions and don't want to move from their homes. Frustrated with the lack of progress the military attacks the tree, driving the Na'Vi out of their home forcing them to find refuge elsewhere. Jack convinces them to mount one last battle by rallying the other tribe of Na'Vi's around Pandora.

I would preface that if you are going to see the movie, please watch it in Real 3-D or IMAX 3-D. It gave me a little headache at first but after a while it went away and I was able to fully enjoy the film.

It's a visual masterpiece. Even though you know this world can't exist it's hard to tell what's real and what computers created. The aliens, the Na'Vi, are especially well made. The facial expressions, the emotions, the body movements, and pretty much everything about them makes them seem like something you'd find in the wild. The advances in camera and CGI technology make all this possible. Every little detail is so spectacular you just want to spend more time in the world.

One of the overarching themes in the movies is the reverence for the environment and other other cultures. It's obvious that the Na'Vi were suppose to represent the Native American and how the Europeans came in and did their best to wipe an entire nation of people out. A lot of critics said this was "Preachy" and "Heavy Handed" of James Cameron. During the film it nagged at me about how he hammered this message into the audiences head but then I realized it's hard not be a little dramatic over something as serious as taking out an entire group of people.

The story itself is a little cliche'. Dancing With Wolves (In Space) is what most people have been calling it and it's pretty right on. White goes into a different culture, learns their ways, is accepted, defends them from evil white people. The dialogue is a little painful at times too. "You have to fight terrorism with terrorism."

Besides the Na"Vi themselves I didn't find too many of the performance that enthralling. I will give special mention of Stephen Lang who played Colonel Miles Quaritch, the no-guff military leader. It was almost comical the amount of testosterone Lang was trying to play off.

Overall, I did enjoy the movie once I took myself out of the little nitpicks I have with the story and took in the magical scenery.

Avatar: B+

Better Muppet than Never

2009-12-24T00:14:00.003-05:00

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Oh man.

"Seven Swimming Swans"

Anything Fozzie cracks me up. It's the simple things folks.

Judging a (comic) book by it's cover

2009-12-16T00:47:00.005-05:00

Comic book covers are probably one of the essential elements to bringing people into reading the medium. A good cover draws you in and hooks you into the series. Of course it's not always the case that a good cover equals a good story and a bad cover doesn't mean a bad story.

The comic book cover standard is now hero in a heroic stance, hero versus villain, or hero doing something heroic. It can be pretty generic and stale.

Full disclosure: I don't really follow Marvel's Iron Man series or any of Marvel's books for that matter.

SPOILERS ACTIVATE

Iron Man (Tony Stark) has had to inflict brain damage on himself to delete sensitive information that's on an electronic database in his brain in order to protect his fellow heroes. Basically, he's making himself dumber. This is a great setup for reinvention of the character. To promote the event, Marvel's redesigned their covers into what I think are great pieces of art.

It's a great use of negative space and solid colors. They remind me of really artsy movie posters. They are very simple but striking.

Good work Marvel.

Conspiracy Theory

2009-12-15T20:28:00.003-05:00

This is G.I Joe's sworn nemesis, Cobra Commander:

This is one of Pacman's sworn nemesis, Inky, the blue ghost:

Do you notice any similarities? Look closer.

Blue masks, two eye holes, weird frilly thing at the bottom. Both products of the 1980's. I'm not saying Pacman is secretly one of the G.I Joe fighting his enemies in the afterlife or anything. I'm just staying patterns happen for a reason.

Are the white dots the elusive "Joe Juice"?

So many questions.

Edit:

I did find this and this for further proof. (Researched after I saw the connection)

"Step into my office, baby"- My case against "The Office"

2009-12-12T21:34:00.005-05:00

It's time for The Office to close up shop.

Most people like/love The Office. Ask someone to name a comedy and it'll probably be on the top of their list. It's a very mainstream program that most people enjoy but not in a "Two and a Half Men" way. It's become apart of our pop culture - "That's what she said". I've adored everything about it especially the fact that most of the actors are also the writers which is unusual for a show. It also helps Paul Feig (Freaks and Geeks and my favorite episode of Mad Men) and Greg Daniels (King of the Hill, Parks and Recreation, The Simpsons, Seinfeld, SNL and more) are involved with it on a writing, directing and producing level.

It's one of the few successful American adaptation of a British show that doesn't have the words "American Idol" in it's title.

Sadly, I fear it's using it's past years of success to hold on the public interests without the credibility it once had. It's ratings have never been that great (online and DVR viewing, notwithstanding) but it's a critical success. It's just ended it's first half of it's sixth season and it just hasn't been anything worth talking about this year. I'm not even sure what's happening with all the subplots. For some reason Dwight put on his "Tool" hat again and is plotting. I remember when I got pretty upset when he quit and worked at Staples. I had become emotionally attached to the "villain" of the series. That never happens. Have they ever explained how Scranton has done better than all the other branches?

I say all this as an Office fan who's become disinterred with a show that use to be the highlight of my Thursday nights. Out of the four NBC comedies, The Office consistently disappoints. Personally I would have been fine with it ending three years ago when Jim finally asked Pam out. What use to be a great show about pranks, office relationships, awkward moment, some heartfelt moments, and Creed is now a former shell of itself. I plead with you writers of The Office and NBC, bow out while you can. I understand wanting to leave a long legacy behind but you don't have to have double digit seasons to be considered successful. Look at your predecessor, the British The Office, they had 2 seasons and called it quits.

I think there are a couple factors as to why the show is failing, follow me if you will;

Michael Scott: He's the wacky boss who just wants your attention and you to love him. Plenty of comedic potential. When the show first premiered I tried to get my parents to watch it but since it wasn't a reality show they weren't interested. My dad commented that Michael was "too real" and "would quit if I had to work with him". For the part I've enjoyed Michael's hijinks but it comes to a point where you are straddling the line of naivety and mental retardation. Yes, I know some people will go to any length for attention but people don't drive in a pond to prove a GPS wrong, or kidnap the pizza delivery kid because he doesn't take coupons. In the latest episode "Secret Santa" Michael proceeds to a be a jerk to everyone because he doesn't get to be Santa. Obviously no one likes a jerk but usually Michael can be likable when he is acting like a baby. He was just plain mean and obnoxious.

I believe they've taken the character to his high point and they don't know what they want to do with him. The high point was of course being fired from Dundler-Mifflen. He's never going to be management unless everyone gets sick because of swine flu and they put him in charge temporarily. Being fired was the perfect opportunity to see what he would do if he wasn't in a position of responsibility. Personally, I would have loved to have seen him go job hunting in the tough economy and landing a "not-boss" job. The path they did take him, making his own office with Pam and Ryan, also worked but he was still in charge. So he fired himself and brought himself back on, now what? He's sharing a title with Jim but he's still playing the court jester without any repercussion. He's announced private company business (usually office closings) in public at least three times! I'm waiting for that hammer to fall.

Would it kill the writers to make him happy romantically? Jan was terrible to him but we got some of the best awkward/sad moments from it. Holly was a perfect match for him but she got snatched away. Pam's mom was . . . well Pam's mom. I've heard rumors of Holly coming back and I hope they're true. I want Michael to happy at some point in this show.

In the end I think they are running out of way to make Michael make a fool out himself and they are now just making him unlikable to even fans of the show. I'm waiting for one of the other office workers, Stanley?, to sue him and send him off on his pathetic way.

Jim+Pam: Will they or won't they? That's the question can keep a sitcom going for decades. It took The Office 3 years. A lot people (Women) turned in each week to see the growing relationship between Jim and Pam as it suffered it's downs and then rose triumphantly. They are the easiest characters to identify with due to their relative normal-ness in their wacky environment. Up to this point, it has been one of the more compelling stories in a comedy. I generally do like them as a couple. Once they started going out, the writers wisely pushed their dating to the background because most of the time the viewing audience doesn't want to see an entire season of people going on dates, for whatever reason. Instead they focused on Pam branching out on her own and Jim becoming responsible.

Their married! Now what? They have a kid on the way! You have to wait 9 months. Then we watch them raising a kid? Uh . . . Nothing is as funny as watching someone raise a kid. (Sarcasm)

We haven't seen too much of the Halpert's home life lately (since they bought the house last season?) so they've decided to focus on their work relationship, Jim is the boss while Pam is his underling. I guess there's a little awkwardness there when Jim tries not show his wife favor above the rest of the employees but things because real nasty, real quick. They aren't the fun couple anymore. We don't identify with their fun loving, prankster sides instead we see ourselves as the haggard and frustrated employees they've become.

The best moments that came out of the Jim and Pam relationship as of lately has to be when they decided to stay and dance with everyone at Cafe Disco instead of having a private ceremony. You can't go wrong with a dance party. It was a cute and heartfelt moment that seems to be the last time we'll see Good Jim and Pam. They were the heart and soul of the show but now they seem like the diseased tonsils that you just want to get rid of as soon as possible.

Awkward vs Sad (Not Funny): When Jan threw Michael's Dundie Award at his tiny plasma TV vs Michael offering laptop batteries to kids he promised tuition money to. Both of these moments had a tremendous amount of buildup and were off put by ridiculous actions but only one was funny. The Dundies mean everything to Micheal and the television was his way of showing off. When Jan destroyed both of them, you could could feel the guy doing the lighting behind the scenes squirm. In the end, it's hilarious.

On the other hand, there was no comedic payoff to handing kids who stayed in school laptop batteries because Michael wasn't the millionaire he thought he'd be. Michael is jerk and the students are really upset with him, except one. I thought he was going to be shived in the parking lot. It was just sad.

More often than not these situations arise for hilarity and instead of LOLing your COTIing. That's Crying On The Inside. These depressing events that Michael has worked himself into just make you shake your head and wonder if your watching the Lifetime channel instead of NBC.

It does go back to Micheal on this one. Look at Curb Your Enthusiasm, King of Awkward. Larry David's mission in life is to make you uncomfortable but laugh at the same time. It works for LD because a small part of us wish we could say and do the things he does. A small voice inside of us goes "If only . . " and he does for us. He's not the most likable person but you do feel for him. You're not suppose to identify with Michael, he's selfish, vain, lonely, and attention seeker.

Status Quo and Nothing Will Ever Be the Same!: The Simpson work because we know what to generally expect. You could watch any random Simpons episode and know what's going on. You don't need to know anything about the characters history or relationships. You're in and out in 22 minutes and hopefully you laughed. On the other hand, by season 2 of a drama you have to pretty well versed in the universe that's been setup to have any clue about what's going on. You can't start watching 24, LOST or CSI in the middle of season 3 and have a clear sense of story. Not until lately, comedies usually shy away from involved, season-long plot lines because people watch them to laugh not to follow a serial story. Usually when they shake things up the pieces will scatter for the remaining of the episode or two but will neatly fall back together eventually in a familiar form. Status Quo. We watch week to week knowing no matter how crazy things get they will go back to normal eventually. Arrested Development tried serial story telling with multiple crazy plot lines that ran all three seasons and people complained that it was "too complicated". People don't like comedies that require non-linear thinking.

The Office has decided to change things around but not a familiar way. I guess they wanted something different but I don't think it's working. The biggest being Michael and Jim working together as co-bosses. We know Jim isn't going back to sales unless he messes up big time and Michael seems to have immunity for some reason. The characters on the show even see it as a bad move. I'm sure there's a plan there but I'm clueless about where this rudderless ship is going.

I read one review that said The Office was better as a drama than a comedy and I tend to agree. The comedy just isn't there anymore. One of my friends suggested that it could be because they've been on the air for 6 years everything seems funny to them and they are totally unaware of falling quality.

I sincerely hope this is The Office's last year. It's been a great ride but we all need to move on.

Lost- The Game Begins and Ends

2009-12-03T01:42:00.003-05:00

LOST will be back in about 3 moths and sometime last week this promo dropped. It's pretty sweet how they used the chess board in a really creative way. I would have been really impressed if it was a backgammon board. Nice to see some parallels I never noticed. Great use of Radiohead. It just gets you pumped for what will hopefully be one of the best last seasons of show ever.

Muppet Bohemian Rhapsody

2009-12-03T01:27:00.002-05:00

I know we've all see it but I want to actually talk about it by saying more than "that's cool" and "Awesome! Muppets!"

I will admit this is one of my favorite things The Muppets have done. The song Bohemian Rhapsody was ruined for me by kids in my Speech and Debate group singing it every time we went somewhere. It's an epic song that we all know, I get it. Anyway . . .

Listen to how depressed Gonzo sounds in beginning. He's about to cry.
Animal just saying "Momma" is brilliant. You can't have a Muppet saying "Momma, just killed a man/Put a gun against his/Pulled the trigger now he's dead". Perfect. Him being distracted, walking away and that "Dada?" bit cracks me up.
"I see the little silhouette-a of clam . . ."
"Meep Meep Meep/Gallileo"
The rocking out montage and then Sam the Eagle's facepalm
The lame computer joke at the end.

I love how they subvert the song so anyone can enjoy it. You can never go wrong with the Muppets

NaNoWriMo 2009- Completed!

2009-12-01T00:13:00.003-05:00

I'm back and I'm a Winner!

I told you I would neglect this blog. Around 4 o'clock in the morning of November 3oth I hit 50,000+ words and decided that I had done enough damage. After a couple of failed attempts I submitted my word count to the NaNoWriMo people and they declared me an official 2009 WINNER!

It was a great feeling to just be done and start going to bed at a decent time again. Of course, I was dragging like a zombie all day. I've decided to take you through the month and give you a feel of my thought process and such. Let's go.

The Story:
The basic premise is "What if the United States was attacked by terrorist but no one claimed responsibility? How does the governments response/non-response affect the entire country?" We follow a White House intern, Jonathan Hogan, as tries to unravel the mystery of the attacks and meets the people who are affected.

Writing the Story:
I wanted to do a "Across America" story where a diverse group of people travel across the nation, dealing with the external problems of the world and their own eternal problems. I was inspired by the 2004 zombie movie Dawn of the Dead. I think I was drawn to writing an ensemble cast because it seemed like a challenge. I usually write stories where the main character goes from one character to the other and they have one-on-one conversations. Trying to write four characters at once was definitely a challenge. Last week I watched Cloverfeild and took some cues from how they handled ensembles dealing with a catastrophe. I'll admit I used some of the same story structure and a plot point from Watchmen but not in super obvious/copy-written way. It was more for inspiration purposes.

When I first started writing I had a very simple story line: Jonathan witness attacks, is held hostage and escapes, finds other people who think there's a conspiracy, they work together to uncover and prove conspiracy, The End. Those where my anchor points and it didn't matter what happened in between as long as I made it to those destinations. For the first week and half everything went pretty well because I was basically doing written improv. I can have people do and say whatever they want as long as I got to the markers. You run into some problems when you start contradicting yourself or don't remember what you wrote one chapter previously.

Problems I ran into:
I was so focused on story I found myself writing myself into corners. I was frequently going back and changing characters motivations and actions just to move the story along. The thing that frustrated me the most was an extended scene that took place on a bus going from Washington DC to Chicago, Illinois. It's hard to get things moving with your characters when they are stuck on a bus for thirteen plus hours. I had a couple of stops for them to make but I was banging my head against the wall trying to find ways for them to kill time. I had them talk, read books, look at the passing scenery, take naps, write, listen to music and anything else we normally do on long trips but it was boring. I watched the movie The Warriors about a gang in New York who have get back to Coney Island by foot and train. That movie suffered the same problem of having these lulls in between the fights and running away. I finally figured out my problem was that they were doing these things by themselves and the scene needed some tension and stakes. Once I did that I was on a roll.

Once I got back and revise it (more on that in a bit) I'm defiantly going to do best to raise the stakes more often. When my characters are bored, I'm bored. Out of habit, when I write I like to make things humorous and make references to pop culture but it's hard to do when you're talking about xenophobia, racism, and terrorism. For good measure I did get a pretty good swipe at National Treasure, the main character reads Moby Dick, and a soldier quotes a Radiohead lyric.

I'm concerned that people aren't going to appreciate meeting the other main characters almost half way into the book. Jonathan is your POV character but he's locked up for a week and that takes about three chapters before he escapes. You almost immediately meet another minor character that gives him a ride and I hope you fell in love in with her but I had to leave her behind to advance the story. Usually you meet everyone pretty early on but there's no way to get everyone together. It just bugs that's all.

The biggest problem I ran into was motivation. I did my best to keep up with the word count of 1,666 a day. At couple of days I sat down to write and I just stared at the screen. Thirty minutes later I would find myself playing Bejewelled or watching a show on HULU. I think the lack of motivation goes back to the fact that I didn't like where my story was going.

The Tools:
I don't recall how I even found it but I used a program called Scrivener to do all my writing. I don't have Microsoft Word on my computer and I was going to use Google Documents instead. Scrivener has a free 30 day trial and seemed like the perfect thing for NaNoWrimo's mission. You can check out all the features on the website but I want to point out some of my favorite things:
-Chapter divider (instead of one huge document)
-Word count per chapter and entire document (easy way to meet the 1,666 goal)
-Word search (useful for avoiding repeated phrases)
-Research (Add websites, pictures, PDF, ect. without out having a separate browser open)
-Saves every 2 seconds
-Different formats (Screenplay, Comic Book, Short Story, etc.)
-Word goals (Another easy way to meet chapter or entire story goal)
-It talks to you (Self-Explanatory)

This thing saved my life, writing wise.

I also had the aid of several Starbucks drinks, random sheets of paper which I kept sub plots on, and my trusty notebook #2 which I do a majority of my scripting on. Of course the Internet was a huge help for research on things like guns, stealth aircraft, the layout of DC and so much more but it was also my biggest hindrance. On the last week to finally cut off my Internet so I could work without being distracted.

Music also played an important part in trying to set the mood right for the story. I tried to listen to indie rock but it didn't fit. I had recently downloaded a free Philip Glass sampler and that did a great job of helping me have the right tone scenes, especially the beginning. I also listened to underground rap to the grim and grittiness during an interrogation scenes. From there I started listening to AmpLive, random mashups, Weezer, Mountain Goats, Fun., and the Avett Brothers. I don't think I could have written this without a soundtrack to keep me moving.

What I Learned & Enjoyed:
I learned that no matter how much I try to plan out a long-term story things are going to change. I looked back at my notes about where I was going to take the story and wonder why I wanted to do that in the first place.

Cut out the distractions. Especially the Internet, unless it's for research or checking Twitter.

I need to do more research on a lot of stuff. I don't have the luxury of being able to travel to DC and Indiana. I've never ridden on a Greyhound bus or been inside a jet. I need to bone up on the situation in the Middle East, especially the different sects of Islam.

The best way to get out a corner you wrote yourself into is to knock the wall down with a fight or some shooting a gun.

TV/Radio/Newspapers are a great tool to deliver exposition without making your characters look like know-it-all. I hope CNN and NPR appreciate all the times I used them to let my characters know what is going on in the world.

I love coming up with fake technology to solve my problems. There my little dues ex machinas without being so obtrusive to the rest of the story.

I loved writing my Abbot and Costello of the small-time militia world, Zeke and Kevin. They were racist morons who couldn't stay out of trouble for the life of them.

What's next:
A lot of people asked what I get for "winning". Besides the satisfaction? Nothing tangible. I wrote my 50,000+ words in 30 days, that should be enough. Now, I'm not completely done writing. When I stopped writing and checked my word count at 4 AM I decided to stop because normal people don't stay up into the early AM's to do ANY type of writing. So far, it's 30 chapter (neat how that worked out) Prologue to Epilogue. I started the Epilogue and realized I don't know what happens after the big climatic scene. Happily Ever After? A little here and there maybe.

I'm going to take a week away from it and come back later to it. Hopefully I will have figured out what happens afterwords. Probably even more daunting than writing the thing is going to be editing it. I'll admit that I'm not a great editor or even a good one but I really want to do something with the story since I spent all that time writing it. There are some scenes that need to be completely rewritten (location, people involved) and story continuity that need to be checked. The plan is that by the end of the month I'll have it ready to show to people, maybe a publisher. Who knows?

To torture myself further I've already started working on another writing project, this time it's a TV pilot for a contest. Thankfully this one doesn't have a word count, instead a page count, but I put off a whole I could have been working on it to do NaNoWriMo. Hopefully this one won't hold my life hostage like NaNoWriMo.

I think I've proven to myself that I can complete my writing projects. I have notebooks and scrap papers filled with stories that I haven't taken the time to write down and look publishable. This year I entered three writing contests; a TV pilot, a short comic book story and a hint fiction contest. I got rejection letters from all three. This is the first thing I've written that's "won" and I think that's the motivation I need to keep going on.

Anyway, back to our regally scheduled program:

Bruce Lee vs. Iron Man

2009-11-05T01:55:00.002-05:00

It's like something out of the new Toy Story movie or at least I can dream it is.

Bruce Lee, the greatest master of martial arts of our life time. Iron Man, the man who fights crime in a high tech super suit. Plus it's stop motion! And it has awesome "Kill Bill"-esq music! I love stuff like this.

NaNoWriMo

2009-11-03T01:28:00.003-05:00

According to the internet the month of November is reserved for National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write 50,000 words throughout the month. It comes out to about 1,666 a day. I've attempted it the past two years. The first year I came up with a story about a rich young man who falls in with a gang of hobo's who were at war with another group of hobo's over philosophical issues. I got a good way through it and then my schedule changed and I found it difficult to complete. I unfortunately lost a good chunk of it when I had to wipe my computer at the beginning of the year. Last year I told myself I would do a short story every day. This went well until I just failed to come up with new ideas. I eventually took the first story I wrote and expanded it into a larger story I periodically work on. It's about a young female hacker trying to save the world from being taken over from nerds who turned themselves into vampires. It's anti-Twilight.

This year I hadn't planned on writing a story at all because I didn't have any clue about what I wanted to write and wasn't too sure I was dedicated to write something completely fresh. Last week I finished writing a story that I had come up with about a year ago. Yet I was struck with inspiration and have begun working on my story for 2009. While my other stories rely heavily on pop culture and don't take themselves too seriously I decided do an intense political thriller. It's called "A Nation Divided". It's about what happens when instead of bringing us together a nationwide disaster tears us apart and how it affects the various communities. It'll follow a diverse group of five individuals as they try to uncover a vast conspiracy without being killed by the government and various fighting factions.

I say all this because I'll probably be a little slack about updating the blog so I can get my daily work count in. Please bear me with as I actually try to accomplish this for the first time. If you want to follow my progress check me out here where you can read part of the first chapter. I haven't decided if I'm going to post it anywhere because it's a work-in-progress everyday. I'll be going back and forth changing this day to day. Maybe once I'm done.

To make up for lack of real content over the next month check this out. Happy Late Halloween:

The Costumes of Halloween Past

2009-10-31T23:10:00.015-04:00

Halloween has come and gone, like a ghost passing through a graveyard. Except without the heavy-handed metaphor. I can never seem to get as pumped up about the holiday like everyone else but I do enjoy it. I think it's because my parents were paranoid (?) about letting my brother and myself walk the neighborhood and do trick-or-treating in our child friendly and crime-free neighborhood. So as a child I never really got to dress up like Batman, Indiana Jones, or Denver the Last Dinosaur. I do have memories of dressing up like Waldo from the Where's Waldo series for Book Week(?) in elementary school. I choose Waldo because he wore glasses. They're weren't a lot of bifocaled literary heroes to look up to at the time (Pre-Potter and Dwight Shrute) and I didn't want to be Piggy from The Lord of the Flies because he died and was overweight. I did dress up like a firefly for a play called Going Buggy in elementary school. I danced to a song and the only part I remember was when the part of the song went "And the light went down way low", I bent and shuffled my knees downward. I still use that move to this day. Hey! Let's look at embarrassing pictures of me from the last 6 years!

2003: Three years after the presidential election people still felt like it was appropriate to make "hanging Chad" jokes. (9 years later I still get it.) So I figured I would be Sexy Hanging Chad. I made a sandwich board out of poster board and made it up like a ballot and put a noose around my neck. Most people got a laugh out of it while other had have it explained to them. Explaining a joke is always hilarious. No pictorial evidence, sorry.

20004: I really didn't dress up. A couple of my other friends played guitar so we went around as a "band". I was Sexy Triangle Player. We played songs for girls. It was pretty ingenious. Again, no pictures.

2005: Out of time and low on ideas, I zipped up my favorite track jacket and put my favorite hat on backwards. I took an Amazon.com book, wrapped it up with paper and designed it like 2 turntables, no microphone. Where it's at?! The turntables actually spun. I put my headphones on the side to make it look like I was listening to music. The front said "DJ Wicky-Wicky 1-2". At the time I worked at the radio station and if you say wicky-wicky real fast (Chadwick) it sounds like you're scratching a record. I hung it around my neck and I was The Sexy Portable DJ.

2006: I actually put a little bit of thought into this one. I made myself into Sexy Comic Strip Panel. I took poster board and painted the outline of a guy pointing to the sky saying "Look, up in the sky!!!". I think I had to explain this one to people too. I ended up with cuts on my neck from the poster board but the hat kept it balanced. If you look closely you can see I was wearing my The Flash t-shirt too. Nerd. Sexy Nerd.

2007: So I'm outta of college. Now what do I do? Go to Murder Mystery Parties, Duh! It was pirate themed. It's very hard to tell but I went as Sexy David Bowie Pirate. I jelled my hair up into a spike and wore a vest. That's all you need to do to be a pirate. And the ability to throw a gang sign.

2008: It's a Mafia Wedding! So I get to be a gangster right? Wrong! I'm the photographer of course. "First Amendment!" It's probably the most I've ever dressed up in my life and it's 99%brown. Brown dress shirt, pants, sweater vest, fedora, red tie and a press pass. Stylin' Sexy Photographer. I felt like Jimmy Olsen. It worked as a double costume. I had stand up gig that night and I was Donkey Kong giving a speech. A guy afterwords said I was the spitting image of DK.

2009: This year was the Old West. I signed up late because I didn't think I would be able to make it because of my work schedule. So I was made a B character. Sexy Gambler or Brisco County Jr. This was a combination of bought and borrowed items. I borrowed a red vest, a broach (for a bolo tie) and a pocket watch chain. I already had a black and red shirt, dress pants, and a deck of cards so all I needed was a bowler hat and a handlebar mustache. I had a wandering accent sometimes it was Old West, 1920's vaudeville performer, and even Desmond from LOST , brotha', This is why I'm hot.

Unfortunately because I was talking, eating and laughing my mustache loose halfway through the night.

I think I modelled my costume after this guy:

Well Halloween Week's over. Hope I "scared" you and "made you laugh". See you next week. Hopefully no theme.

Halloween Dance Party

2009-10-30T00:54:00.002-04:00

If you knew me in college, you knew me for one thing and one thing only. My critically acclaimed and Peabody Award winning One Man Dance Parties on Last Minute Update. (TV40 Represent!) I was good. That's why I had my own segment. But I may have, as you kids say, been served. Halloween Style:

It's been broughten!

Excuse me now as I warm up. Phyillis! Call the dance studio and reserve me a spot. This pumpkin-headed freak can't soil my reputation.

"Walk this way. No. Walk THIS way."

2009-10-29T20:10:00.002-04:00

I'm not a big fan of scary or horror movies. They're usually formulaic and too over the top to be even thought of as scary. One of the scariest movies I've see recently was "Alien". Even though it's the vastness of space and this gigantic space station you feel confined and a little claustrophobic. You never get a good luck at the Alien but you know you it's scary.

Since it's Halloween time I tried to think of my favorite scary movie. The answer of course is "Young Frankenstein." I'm a huge Mel Brooks fan and this movie is a classic. Great lines, great music, great acting from all the Brooks regular.

Here's some of the best moments:
Abby Normal:

Eye-gor:

Neigh!:

"Puttin' on a Ritz"

You can probably tell Eye-gor is my favorite character. He steals the movie. Go back to the comedy nursing home grandpa. By grandpa I mean Peter Boyle. Just kidding, Boyle's pretty great but Marty Feldman kills it (because it's Halloween). Do yourself a favor and go watch Young Frankenstein instead some remake of a remake of a terrible movie.

Sorry Mario . . .

2009-10-27T14:04:00.003-04:00

Why you shouldn't dress as your favorite video game plumber:

From here.

And it gives me an excuse to post this again:

Download

Worlds Easiest Halloween Costume

2009-10-26T13:55:00.002-04:00

Can't figure out what you want to be for Halloween this year? Here's a simple solution:

Just make sure you don't go as Sexy T-Rex. Someone always goes as that and it's embarrassing. Unfortunately it's not for sale anymore but you can still at least look at it here.

30 Rock Week! - Dr. Spaceman

2009-10-26T02:04:00.002-04:00

BONUS!

Dr. Spaceman. Best TV doctor or best TV doctor ever?

"Diabetes Repair I guess."

He's like Creed. He shops up every now and then and every word is hilarious.

Meat Cat wants to thank you for sticking with it! See ya'll next (this?) week!

30 Rock Week! - Kenneth the Page (Jack McBrayer)

2009-10-26T00:47:00.005-04:00

Sorry I've slack. Weird work week. Anyway. . .

Despite being yet another stereotype of the South, Kenneth the Page is one of my favorite characters on 30 Rock. Every now and then they make him more folksy almost to a point of hillbilly cartoon character (evidently he has a sewn up mouth on his back?) but does seem to get some of the best lines.

He and Paul Sheer do an improv show together and I was lucky enough to go see it a few years ago. I read an interview with him about how he "played" in improv scenes and said that he never wanted to be the star but always wanted to support the other person. That's one of the main "rules" of improv, support your scene partner and he it did with humility and hilarity. Even though they are two different people you can tells Jack brings a lot of himself to Kenneth.

I think one of my favorite things about him is his optimism and innocence. No matter what he's happy to do the simplest task. He's also very loyal to NBC and Tracy Jordan. Like I said before, he and Tracy have a very special "mentor. manatee, mento" relationship. Kenneth would lay down his life for NBC and Tracy unless it meant him lying.

Kenneth is the moral center of the gang at 30 Rock. Without him Liz would have proably jumped, Traci would ended up stuck in an elevator and Jenna wouldn't care because she's oblivious to everything. Plus a brother can dance.

"[whimsically] Pregnant cornbread..."

"Well, as a child, I had a prize pig that I thought was my best friend. But then one day I picked up one of her piglets - she went crazy! She bit off my nut sack... that I kept tied around my belt to feed squirrels. "

"Adult? You mean like you're driving a car or wearing a suit?"

30 Rock Week! - Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan)

2009-10-21T21:35:00.002-04:00

There can be only one and it's Tracy Jordan. Easily the funniest person on 30 Rock, Tracy makes the ridiculous effortlessly sublime. Much like how Liz is a Woman-Child, Tracy is the shows Man-Child and sometimes infant. A man who has let fame go to his head to the most ridiculous extremes.

He's rich, famous, funny and can do whatever he wants, unless Jack Donaghy gets to him first.

He gets the best lines and you always want more. It's easily a character that they could drive it the ground by just making him say random and weird things but I think they've done a good job of making him just more than the wacky guy.

I know Tracy's an acquired taste. Some think he's to over the top ,completely unrelatable, and just spouts nonsense phrases. I think that's what makes him such a great character. He acknowledges his complete aloofness toward society but keeps on doing whatever he pleases. On occasion he does try and reconnect with the general public but fails miserably. "Anyone want to shake hands with a black millionaire?"

One of the things that does humanize him is his relationship with Kenneth the Page. Kenneth is basically his babysitter but also one of his best friends. They are both desperate for attention and they find it in each other. It's like watching the best buddy cop movie ever. It breaks my heart whenever they get mad at each other.

Ever wonder what every single word Tracy Jordan said in Season 3? Check it.

Tracy Jordan yall.

"Mind Grapes. "Live every week like it's shark week." "Can I ask you what time it is?"

30 Rock Week! - Liz Lemon (Tina Fey)

2009-10-20T22:43:00.003-04:00

Liz Lemon is special kind of lady. It's hard to find a show with a female lead that's likable and funny. If they are "funny" it because they're dumb, shallow and are just embarrassment to themselves. Tina Fey has admitted that Liz isn't too far away from herself. She was the nerdy kid in high school who had trouble making friends and would rather eat a greasy hamburger than eat a salad. She socially awkward, gets frustrated with her prima-donna coworkers and wanted (still wants?) a kid. She deals with the typical issues of modern day woman by not in the cliche "Sex in the City " way, where most would booze and sleep their problems away. She tries whatever the woman did in the movie she was watching last night. She's THE "Woman-Child". Guys have the "Man-Child", the dude who can't seem to grow and get past his childish way despite the fact he's in his 30's and is paying real bills, like electricity and cable. Liz Lemon is still the girl she was in college despite the fact she is the head writer of a comedy in New York City. That's why we love her.

One of my favorite things about her is that even though she was a straight up dork in her younger days it still crops up here and there in her life and she's not ashamed of it, for the most part.

Liz Lemon is a unique character in American television. I think she's one of the few TV women that real women can relate with realistically. What average woman is a "Desperate Housewife", or lives in a "Lipstick Jungle? She's insecure about her body but not in a whiny or annoying way. She'll make the nerd reference we are all thinking thinking. She'll make the situation even more awkward than has to be to make a point.

She's kinda of like a female Woody Allen.

So let's give up it Real America, for Liz Lemon! Play me out Meat Cat.

"Another successful interaction with a man." "Blurg." "Nurtz"

30 Rock Week!

2009-10-20T19:11:00.003-04:00

This exists?

30 Rock is like pizza. It has everything you could ever want on it, delicious anytime, and is technically good for you. It was a show I didn't want to give the time of day till some friends assured me it was hilarious. At the time I was watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

and it and 30 Rock had a very similar premise, a behind the scenes look at an SNL type show. I'm a sucker for a show-within-a-show setups and for some reason a show with Matthew Perry didn't make me want to turn the channel. I stayed with Studio 60 until it just got boring and unwatchable. I think I didn't want to watch 30 Rock because it starred Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan. I have never been a Baldwin (any of them) fan and Tracy Morgan did nothing for me on SNL. Now I can't get enough of those two.

30 Rock isn't for everyone and it's not a perfect show. (I'm looking at you Selma Hayek, last season guest-a-polooza, and episodes dedicated to duplicating movie plots) It does have a more consistent run of being funny that most of the comedies I watch.

So, enjoy 30 Rock Week while it lasts . . .

Another Theme Week . . .

2009-10-19T00:43:00.004-04:00

Hot off the trail of doing an extensive look at "Where the Wild Things Are", I've decided to do yet another theme week! Why? Because I'm crazy like that. Actually I was torn between WTWTA and this weeks theme for last week but WTWTA came out on top. I know the anticipation is killing you so I'll go ahead and reveal . . .

It's . . .

30 ROCK WEEK!

My current favorite comedy is back on air baby! It's going going to be so awesome Meat Cat will bring it to you personally and then leave on his skateboard. "There's nothing wrong with being fun and popular and giving people what they want" because you demanded it Real America. *

*All references to Season 4 but you should already know that

WTWTA Week- Movie Review & Bonus!

2009-10-16T01:38:00.006-04:00

I went and saw "Where The Wild Things Are" today. I present you with a review:
SPOILERS!
------------
The film uses the book as a skeleton and then adds the appropriate meat, muscle, organs, and flesh to make it come alive. Young Max (Max Records) is a little too rambunctious for his own good. He just wants someone to play with and talk to on his level. His mother (Catherine Keener) is stressed out about work and has a new boyfriend. His sister Claire ( Pepita Emmerichs) has moved on from her younger brothers childish ways. We aren't told anything about his father except he's absent. His best friend seems to be his imagination, creating forts, igloos and imaginative stories to go with it all. During an outburst of rebellion and subsequently hurting his mother, Max runs away . He finds a boat and sails away to the land of the Wild Things.

There he witness fantastic creatures who just can't seem to get along. Max immediately identifies with Carol (James Gandolfini) who just wants to have fun in the most destructive way possible. After a hilarious exchange about his "magic powers" the Wild Things make him their king and show him all the fun that comes with his kingdom. Also known as "The Wild Rumpus".

During a walk with Carol, Max is shown a secret model city that Carol built himself and hopes one day will come to pass but ultimately doubts it. He calls it the place where "only the things that you wanted to have happen would happen". Max decides it's doable and with all the Wild Things help, Carols dream can come true. They begin constructing a enormous fort for everyone to live but of course everyone isn't happy. K.W., a Wild Thing that seem to come and go, wants Max to meet her new friends who are smart and cool. Carol gets upset that Max and K.W. aren't hanging out with him. Max tries his best to make things right but nothing works.

Upset that everyone isn't happy, as Max promised, Carol begins threatening to tear down the fort. Wanting Carol to calm down, Max tells him that he's not really a king but this just makes Carol more upset. He starts chasing Max and ends up ripping one of the Wild Things arm off. Max runs into K.W. who saves him by putting him in her stomach. Carol confronts K.W. about Max and realizes that he's partially to blame for the mess but he is sorry.

Max decides he's had enough and wants to go home. All the Wild Things, except Carol, help him get his boat in the water and bid him a sad goodbye. At the last minute Carol, realizing Max wasn't mad at him, rushes to bid him goodbye also with a sorrowful howl. Max makes his way back home to his mother.
--------------

This is not a "kids" movie. Not to say there aren't moments for kids to enjoy but if you have young children, they will likely squirm in their seats and ask whats going on. This movie doesn't have outlandish special effects, pop culture references, a catchphrase, fart jokes, celebrity cameos, or a rock and roll soundtrack. It's mature in a good way. It deals with child misbehavior, acting out, loneliness, imagination, the emotional spectrum, trying to fit in, rage and other things we usually don't talk about with our kids. These things were represented by the Wild Things themselves. In the theatre I saw the movie in, a child whispered/yelled "Why is he doing that?" as Max trashes his sisters room after she failed to comfort him. Kids understand happy and sad but it usually doesn't go deeper than that.

I've read some interviews where people called the film "boring". I never felt the urge to check my watch but the movie did take it's time in some scenes. I really didn't mind because it was nice to admire the scenery. Too often movies, especially kids, try to zip everything along because of their precious attention span that has been eaten away by ADD. Just because there isn't an explosion every ten minutes, it doesn't mean it's boring.

There were two very shocking moments that got my attention. When Carol is chasing Max the bird Wild Thing, Douglas, tries to stop Carol and rips Douglas's arm off. I didn't see it coming but it puts into perspective the real life consequences of untamed rage. Later on in the film his arm appears to have grown back via a skeletal bird wing, like a stick man arm and hand with three fingers. (Edit-Everyone else thinks it was a stick. I'll go with that.)

The other time was when Max goes into K.W.'s mouth/stomach to hide from a raging Carol. The inside of K.W. looks a lot like whatever Fozzy Bear is made of . It was kind of disturbing to see a creature eat a child.

I appreciated how well they got the character of Max. He was very real to me because I could identify to situation. As the youngest child I was upset when my older brother moved unto other "cooler" things with his friends and left me behind but that's a part of growing up. I can still remember drawing up elaborate sketches and blueprints of forts, caves and secret hideouts that had TV's, mini-fridges, tunnels, look-out-points, bridges, ropes and every video game system. Probably one of my favorite parts of Max acting like a kid was when he was prepping his fort/spaceship and he stands atop a stack of books and calls down to his mother to join him. Why he is standing on the books? Because the floor is lava, obviously. Sometimes it's lasers, shark infested waters or acid but the floor is always dangerous.

Jonze could have easy ordered up some CGI Wild Things, like Gollum from Lord of the Rings, but I think he made the right decision to go with the creature suits. I would have spent too much time wondering how they did the CGI. The monsters looked completely natural with their fur, feathers, hair and horns. It gave Max someone "real" to talk to.

Like I said before the sets were amazing in size and the overall aesthetic. I liked how things from Max's room were incorporated into the Wild Things world. It had a very natural and organic feel, like you were there in the woods of the Wild Things. The massive fort and the tiny village Carol made were probably my favorite set pieces.

I give the film a B+. It looks, sounds and was written spectacularly. There's just something missing from it. I don't what's keeping me from giving it an A.There was some goofy CGI/wire jumping that looks plain ridiculous in any film and I wish they would figure out how to fix it.

It's a sweet film about what I think all kids and maybe some adult feel at some time. We just want to be understood and sometimes our imagination is the only place that can happen. Unfortunately we might not like what we see.

Bonus!
If you ever wondered where the people behind "Where the Wild Things Are" got their inspiration for the film check out "We Love You So". It's a fantastic website that gives great insight into the creative process plus you might find a new thing to love. Please check it out.

Till next week.

WTWTA Week- Imitation vs Interpretation

2009-10-16T00:14:00.006-04:00

Where the Wild Things Are has been attempted to be made into a movie for a little over 20 years. At one point it was going to be produced by Disney/Pixar. The details aren't clear about why there was a fallout but with Disney/Pixar's track record it's hard to imagine it would have been any thing less than spectacular. Besides Cars, have they made a bad movie? I'm assuming Disney's involvement might have dampened Maurice Sendack's attitude towards the film. It wasn't until after Sendack saw Meeting John Malchovich did he contact Spike Jonze and offered him the directors job. Since the early 2000's the films been in development with a lot of false starts and nay-saying. Fortunately the film has been completed and is being released this weekend nationwide.

Because it's a 10 sentence story and considered a classic, many said it was un-filmable. That's becoming a more prevalent attitude today concerning certain intellectual properties. The resentment comes from our own personal attachment to that "thing". We have special memories attached to our own to things that represent something we like or are important to our childhood. A popular example of this is the comic book Watchmen. Since the comics release several attempts were made to capture it on film. Since it was a comic book, studios had to deal with the "nerd factor". Making sure the nerds were happy before anyone else was. This year (2009) Watchmen was released and despite fairly positive reviews among critics it seemed to cause a split reaction with those who were fans of the comic book. I personally thought it would have been better served as a 12 episode mini series that would capture the feel better of each chapter of the book. Instead as much story as possible was crammed into a 3 hours theatrical release. The film was so slavishly devoted to the book that it was just an imitation not an interpretation.

I mention all of this because the same is true for "regular books", you know the ones without pictures. Everyone always says, "The book is better than the movie". I really can't argue with that but lately the books I read will never be made into a movie. I think we fool ourselves if we expect the movie to be exactly the books. Doing that completely takes away the enjoyment of reading the books. I've read dozens of interviews with authors who love hearing the different interpretations of scenes in their own books. They have their vision of a scene plays out, while twenty different people see it twenty different ways but the author concedes they are all right as long as they stay true to the story itself.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!
------------------------------
From interviews I've read with Spike Jonze and Maurice Sendack there was one change that Jonze made that Sendack is still kind of uneasy about. Instead of Max's room changing into the land of the Wild Things, he takes a boat there as seen in the trailers.
-----------------------------
SPOILER ALERT!!!!
OVER!!!!

I saw all this because Where the Wild Things Are is about an hour and a half long. I'm going to assume most of the film takes place in the land of the Wild Things. Like I said before the book is only 9-10 pages something you could read in 5-10 minutes. I'm confident Jonze has crafted a worthwhile story with such little to go off. This means there's going to be some expansion on things not necessarily addressed in the book and I'm fine with that. If it had been a stick-to-the-letter adaptation the film might have been a 7 minute short film.

The original point of this post was to look at other interpretations of WTWTA so lets see it's early beginnings.

The Disney/Pixar version-An early test

It's also been an opera that Sendack collaborated on (ignore the last half, rubbish)

I'm glad it's taken this long to get on the screen. I would have hated for the process to have been rushed and had gotten a trash product. Just goes to show you, slow and steady wins the race.

WTWTA Week- Spike Jonez the Director

2009-10-12T22:11:00.009-04:00

You have no doubt seen Spike Jonze work over the last decade or so. He is an innovator of music videos with his directing prowess and artistic vision.

When I first started getting into film and television in college, he was the first director I started researching. I even bought his DVD. I was amazed how versatile his videos were and did my best to bring his style to my own project without completely aping it. In fact, it was the following video that got me into a whole backwards phase where I wanted to film everything backwards, much to the annoyance of my co-workers.

The Pharcyde-Drop

The Pharcyde had to learn their own lyrics backwards so it would look like they were singing regular when then reversed the footage.

As you know from "What Have I Been Missing" Weezer is in the Top 3 of my favorite bands. Besides the music they also have great videos and most of them are done by Jonze. These are two of my favorites:

Weezer-Undone (Sweater Song)

Buddy Holly

Undone is great because it's all one shot. I'm not sure how many takes they did but I wouldn't be surprised if it was only one. I think my favorite part is the shennanagins of the drummer especially toward the end.

I think Buddy Holly was the first Weezer video and song I saw/heard. It might have help gotten me into the band. It completley boggled my mind how they could insert footage from "now time" into a show from the 1970's. Today there is nothing a green screen can't do.

Here's some more of his better known videos:
Sabatoge-Beastie Boys

FatLip- What Up FatLip?

Bjork- It's So Quiet

Fatboy Slim- Weapon of Choice

As you can see, they were groundbreaking videos that can only be imitated but never reproduced. Jonze has the visual eye to take make "Where The Wild Things Are" familiar and fantastic. All the sets I've seen have been awe inspiring. I love the first image because of it's scale. I hope the sets are as grandiose as these imply.With films, we usually have what I call "Free Passes" when it comes with the people involved. If "so and so" is acting, directing, or writing the movie we will see it regardless. Spike Jonze is one of those people who will have a free pass on any project he decides to do because he's yet to disappoint. I don't know of another director I would trust with the film besides MAYBE Wes Anderson or Michele Gondry. I only choose them for their unique visual style that would bring something different to the film but a you need more than a creative eye for a film like this. If nothing else, the film will definitely look spectacular. I would probably watch this movie if the whole thing was backwards.

Congratulations Spike Jonze! You deserve this project and I hope I don't have to recall your Free Pass.

"Where the Wild Things Are" Week

2009-10-12T00:40:00.007-04:00

As you probably know the movie, Where the Wild Things Are, is being released this weekend into theaters. When I first heard it was being adapted into a live action film I scoffed. Most adapted children's books (Grinch, Cat in the Hat, Eragon, etc) are a terrible experience for kids and adults. It takes a great director to achieve a balance of pleasing both parent and child. So when I heard Spike Jonze was directing it I was immediately on board. (More on Spike later in the week) I saw this test footage sometime last year:

"You're right, robots are the best. Robots are the best."

Talk about some pathos. That's pretty heavy stuff.

After watching that I knew I had to see this movie. That scene is funny and heartbreaking. The creature work, though early and crude, is still fantastic and mesmerizing. It's absolutely adorable. Of course it is, the creatures are from the Jim Henson Studios, THE place for puppetry and animatronics. I'm pretty much a sucker for anything with cool looking creatures in it. This guy use to be my favorite:
The screenplay was written by Dave Eggers who the founder of McSweeney's one of the best literary publications out there. I have complete faith in his work.

Lastly, Karen O. has done the soundtrack. (That link will take you a free stream of the soundtrack, enjoy it while you can.) Before this I wasn't familiar with her at all but having listened to the soundtrack I promise to hunt down more of her stuff. It's perfect "wild rumpus" music.

This movie is perfect for me. Visionary director, great writer, enthralling music. This week I'm going to explore the early history, the people involved, and whatever else I think will be interesting in hopes of pumping myself up and everyone else to see the movie.

"Let the wild rumpus start!"

Live from . . .

2009-10-10T23:51:00.002-04:00

Hey want to see one of my favorite SNL Digital Shorts? It's pretty funny. Funnier than most of the stuff they put on air.

"This no time for joking around giant turkey sub!"

It reminds me a lot of this sketch by the Upright Citizens Brigade called Board Meeting.

"Permission to speak posthumously."

Maybe I just enjoy office based sketch comedy. Unless it's "The Office."

Roll you up into my life

2009-10-08T20:17:00.002-04:00

Hey! One of my favorite games if it happened in real life. It also has a pretty awesome soundtrack.

A Picture is Worth . . .

2009-10-06T20:16:00.036-04:00

There seems to be two types of people who go out to see movies at the theater. Those who just go to see a movie even if they have no clue what it's about and those who go to see specific movies because of an actor/actress/director/comic book tie-in. I fall into the second camp, I'm not about to drop $8 on a movie I don't think is going to be any good. I'm not going to see a random movie just because I want to see a movie. I trust my taste in film enough to not disappoint myself too often. (cough Public Enemies cough)

The money studios spend on advertisements is wasted on me, for the most part. I might want to see a trailer a couple of times but after that I just want to see the movie. All the commercials, print ads, and kids meal toys don't sway me one way or the other.

One of the most important advertisements of a movie is the poster. A singular image meant to represent millions of frames. It's usually the hero standing around heroically, a woman looking forlorn, a single explosion, the eye of the creature on the loose, or the main character with a hilarious look on his face as the world around him goes to ruins. At one time they were seen as pieces of art, now they are something to slap the star's on as large as possible and maybe it's title.

I bring this up because they are some pretty terrible posters (99% of the time of terrible movies) and it's common place for people to frame them and hang them in their domiciles as pieces of art. Here are some examples of the terrible:

The Art-Worthy:

I stumbled upon this website and was amazed at the quality of these posters. They are simple, clean and they present you with classic imagery that's immediately recognizable without the titles emblazoned in 50pt font. If I had spending money and if these were available for sale, my apartment would look like a movie theater lobby.

They remind me a lot of the older Penguin Books covers. A lot of simple shapes, great use of negative space, and direct designs. Striking images that send a clear message about the product. I like how the images are apart of the layout design instead of just set dressing. Plus, those are some of my favorite movies.

What are some of your favorite movie posters?

LD meets HM

2009-10-05T13:31:00.003-04:00

Why this is awesome:

1) Rare Larry David appearance outside his show.
2) LD by being himself, totally out acts everyone in that room.
3) 13 years old will now look up Curb Your Enthusiasm, to the shock of their parents.

Things I wish would have happened:
1) The host was Leon and had given Larry some smack talk
2) Larry would have gotten with a shouting match with Hannah.

(Cue Curb music)

Let's Kick off Monday Right!

2009-10-05T01:25:00.004-04:00

It's Monday. I know, a pretty terrible day overall. Try this on for size. It'll get you pumped up and ready to take on the day. Maybe even finally take down your rival in a climactic fight scene.

You are the best around, all things 80's PSA/Self-Motivation song.

So go ahead, Crane Kick Monday to the curb and let's grab a doughnut. It's Doughnut Monday, right?

The Great Dictator (1940)

2009-10-04T14:18:00.003-04:00

"What do you mean you haven't seen _________? (fill in the blank)"

How many times have we heard or even said that? Being admires of pop culture, we are expected to have seen/heard/read certain things. White Album, Infinite Jest, Jaws. I haven't even touched them, but I like to think my life still has meaning. I say this because before now I have never seen a Charlie Chaplin film. I knew who he was and the important role he played in film and comedy but I never took the time to watch any of his material. I'll admit my attention span could be better and I sometimes get impatient with older movies. They seem slow and methodical which to most people means they are boring. I want to appreciate older films and I figured the best way would be to start with a comedy.

The Great Dictator stars Charlie Chaplin in duel roles. He plays Nazi General Adenoid Hynkel (a satire of Adolf Hitler, which Chaplin eerily resembled) and an unnamed Jewish barber who was also a soldier during World War I. You're dropped in World War I as Chaplin (the soldier) bumbles his way around anti-air craft guns and grenades, nearly killing himself and fellow comrades. Delta Farce this is not. Chaplin manages to take something as terrible and horrific as war and makes you laugh. He eventually ends up in a hospital with amnesia but not before saving Private Shultz, which becomes important later.

Meanwhile Hynkel has rose to power and is persecuting the Jews. His speech has inspired generations of terrible imitators of the German accent. I like to think Mike Myers was especially inspired.

About this time the barber is released back into the world, unaware of the persecution of his people. Not understanding why the police are harassing him, he decides to fight back with hilarious results, It's a great combination of slapstick and physicality. From 3:55-4:19 is all ONE SHOT. That's pretty amazing. This was probably one of my favorite scenes.

The barber and the rest of the Jews catch a lucky break when Shultz, now a part of Hynkels regime, recognizes the man who saved his life and orders the storm troopers to leave the people alone.

Cut to Hykel musing about about world domination. Like a an expert juggler and ballerina, Chaplin tosses and bounces an inflatable globe elegantly around the room. All the motions with the globe were scripted. Now a days most people would have just put *improv with globe* but Chaplin wrote it all out and choreographed it. Amazing. Again I think back to Mike Myers. (It may be a bit of a stretch)

Hyknel decides to ratchet up his plans and heavily persecuting the Jews which causes them revolt. We meet Benzino Napaloni (Jack Oakie) who is opposed to Hynkel's plans. If you have ever wondered where we get our ridiculous Italian/crazy foreigner stereotype from, look no further. The big hand and arm motions and the "I'm-a gonna talk-a like-a this!" are the highlights of his performance. Plus a dictator food fight.

Due to a hilarious mix up, Hynkel is captured and made a barber, meanwhile the barber is confused is for Hynkel and is asked to address the nation. It's a nice touch because the barbers speech is a stark contrast to Hynkel's speech from the beginning of the film. I think it speaks for itself.

In most comedies it's shenanigans up until the end and then there is as serious moment where people learn a lesson about themselves. Then it's back to shenanigans, lesson forgotten. The Great Dictator ends with the speech, no hilarity ensues afterwords. Most people would call that a downer. It was such a important message to send to people during the war and it would have completely negated the impact of that message.

It's very common place making fun and villanize the Nazi's nowadays but imagine doing it in the 1940's. Today we make fun of leaders with regularity and without fear. SNL and The Daily Show ruthlessly take shots at Bin Laden and Ahmadenijad without violent repercussions. Chaplin helped paved the way for comedians to freely voice their opinions about the ills of government without being shipped off to an internment camp or being tortured.

The Great Dictator is moving and hilarious. Few films can capture the atrocities of war and can be hilarious at the same time. It's one of the great political satires of our time. It reminds me of Looney Tunes cartoon with Bugs Bunny as the role of Chaplin. Bumbling his way from situation to the next and always getting the best of the Fudd's/Nazi's of the world. What do you know: (Starts at about 4:45)

Good work 1940's!

Come on in and find a seat, we will be starting shortly

2009-10-04T14:09:00.001-04:00

Welcome to SynaPOPis. Hopefully you've come over from "What Have I Been Missing" or maybe just stumbled in via interwebz. Unlike "WHIBM" I'll be talking about the things in pop culture that make me excited, interested in the world around me and just plain happy. A majority of the site will be devoted to reviews of TV shows and movies but I will also share music, books and whatever else I think you might enjoy. I am also going to have essays on topics such as Love, Why The Office Needs to End, The Slow Burn, Laugh Tracks and much more.

As always feel free to comment and leave any suggestions of topics to explore.

Lets Go . . .