I confess I'm disappointed that despite (or worse, perhaps because) of Tom Cruise's ever-increasing obsession with Scientology*, Mission Impossible: III still opened at #1 at the box office this weekend.
My Tom Cruise over-saturation has had one favorable effect though: I'm not totally sick of Tom Hanks anymore. It's not much, but at least Hanks can act.
*It's totally Cruise's right to believe in Scientology if he wants to- I'm just sick of hearing him talk about it.
tags: Tom+Cruise, Tom+Hanks, Mission+Impossible:III+box+office+results
08 May 2006
06 May 2006
TODAY is Free Comic Book Day
To find a participating store near you, check out the Free Comic Book Day site. It's just what it sounds like.
tags: free+comic+book+day, comic+books
tags: free+comic+book+day, comic+books
05 May 2006
Thirteen
"They Wanted a Louder Gun" by Richard Portman (4.5/5)
If this book had a logline, it would be: Hollywood memoir meets sound text book. The writing isn't perfect, but it still gets a really high mark because what's shared is so honest. I had read it before about ten years ago. There was little I specifically recalled from it-- what I remembered was that it had moved me, and that it was something I knew I would read again some day.
I understand now why I was fuzzy on the details. When Richard worked in LA, he was a sound mixer which means he was below-the-line crew. There aren't many books about the industry written from this perspective (in fact, this book hasn't been published that I know of) because above-the-line crew, people considered to control all the creative aspects of films (actors, directors, producers, editors, cinematographers...), are better known by the public. Reading his book now, it's so clear how ill-suited my temperament is/was for that business. It was clear then, but I had to block it out because I was in grad school, investing time, money, and energy into learning filmmaking; I still had to try it for myself.
Having worked in film in LA for a few years myself, I can now say that I agree with most of his scathing commentary on the industry's inhumane treatment of below-the-line crew. I relate to much of what he experienced but without the union pay or Oscars to help balance things out.
tags: Richard+Portman, They+Wanted+a+Louder+Gun, books
If this book had a logline, it would be: Hollywood memoir meets sound text book. The writing isn't perfect, but it still gets a really high mark because what's shared is so honest. I had read it before about ten years ago. There was little I specifically recalled from it-- what I remembered was that it had moved me, and that it was something I knew I would read again some day.
I understand now why I was fuzzy on the details. When Richard worked in LA, he was a sound mixer which means he was below-the-line crew. There aren't many books about the industry written from this perspective (in fact, this book hasn't been published that I know of) because above-the-line crew, people considered to control all the creative aspects of films (actors, directors, producers, editors, cinematographers...), are better known by the public. Reading his book now, it's so clear how ill-suited my temperament is/was for that business. It was clear then, but I had to block it out because I was in grad school, investing time, money, and energy into learning filmmaking; I still had to try it for myself.
Having worked in film in LA for a few years myself, I can now say that I agree with most of his scathing commentary on the industry's inhumane treatment of below-the-line crew. I relate to much of what he experienced but without the union pay or Oscars to help balance things out.
tags: Richard+Portman, They+Wanted+a+Louder+Gun, books
Speak up
I've been reading up on Network Neutrality, contacting my rep, and thought I'd share some of this post by Adam Green which explains it simply and well:
As the New York Times editorialized today:Be sure to take advantage of these links also supplied in Green's post:
"Net neutrality" is a concept that is still unfamiliar to most Americans, but it keeps the Internet democratic. ... One of the Internet's great strengths is that a single blogger or a small political group can inexpensively create a Web page that is just as accessible to the world as Microsoft's home page. But this democratic Internet would be in danger if the companies that deliver Internet service changed the rules so that Web sites that pay them money would be easily accessible, while little-guy sites would be harder to access and slower to navigate. Providers could also block access to sites they do not like.If Net Neutrality is gutted, Google, eBay, and YouTube either pay protection money to companies like AT&T or risk that their sites process slowly on your computer. Comcast could intentionally slow access to iTunes, steering Internet customers its own music service. And the little guy with the next big idea would be muscled out of the marketplace, relegated to the "slow lane" of the information superhighway.
This isn't just speculation -- it's already happened in places without Net Neutrality. Heck, AT&T's CEO blatantly announced, "The Internet can't be free."
That's why an Internet revolt has begun--a revolt that McCurry belittles. Folks as diverse as Craig from Craigslist, MoveOn, Gun Owners of America, Google, eBay, and Amazon are all fighting back. 350,000 people signed a petition demanding Congress preserve Internet freedom, over 2,000 blogs have rallied the public, and even some celebrities are chiming in.
Craig Fields from Gun Owners of America hit the target right-on when he said
"Whenever you see people on the far left and far right joining together about something Congress is getting ready to do, it's been my experience that what Congress is getting ready to do is basically un-American."
The only way to protect Net Neutrality is for Congress to take action now, as it re-writes our nation's telecom laws. Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) have introduced legislation to do this. Mike McCurry and his clients like AT&T are fighting it tooth and nail.tags: save+the+internet, network+neutrality
If you are outraged, don't just sit there. First comment below, but then take these steps:
1. SIGN a Net Neutrality petition to Congress:
2. CALL Congress now:
3. BLOG about this issue, or put our "Save the Internet" logo on your Web site:
4. MYSPACE: Add "Save the Internet" as a friend:
5. WRITE A LETTER to Congress:
6. VISIT our coalition Web site for more information, SavetheInternet.com
04 May 2006
Blue gloves
I walked through the door right at my appointment time, gave my name when the receptionist looked at me blankly, and sat down in the waiting room. Maybe this time, I won't really have to wait to go in. I should've brought a book-- I'd actually considered it-- but I don't carry a purse, and I couldn't picture what I'd do with it once I was sitting in the dentist's chair. My moleskine was in my pocket if I felt like writing, but for the moment I didn't.
Two older women were there when I arrived, strategically seated several chairs apart. I took a solitary chair on the opposite wall which blocked my view of the office clock but let me watch cars going by outside. There were magazines and pamphlets around, but the burgeoning germophobe in me wanted nothing to do with them.
I'll meditate. A few minutes later, I conceded how difficult meditating in a dentist's waiting room is when you know fillings are ahead of you. It was 70 degrees and sunny out, and I was stuck inside waiting to get my teeth drilled. On the sidewalk across the street, a middle-aged man walked by wearing hot pink garden clogs. You don't see that often here. Good for him. Barbara, one of the women also waiting, was called in. The other woman kept reading the paper. I looked at my watch and tried to remember how far ahead it was set.
I could draw something, I thought to myself, but I didn't feel like it. Instead I studied the chair Barbara had been sitting in and mentally drew it: the back, the arms, the legs, this one in front of that one, the piping around the seat cushion and finally the diamond pattern on it. I had found my meditation: diligent observation. The architecture I knew well, but I didn't usually view it from this side of the room, so I scrutinized the entryway. The building was rectangular, but the front window angles in to provide some overhead cover by the time you reach the door. It's a pretty clever design.
"Claire?"
I jumped. A woman appeared in the doorway to the inner office beside me. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"No, that's all right. You just startled me a little bit," I said, trying to play down my initial reaction.
She lead me back to a smaller room and apologized for the wait: there had been an emergency. I lowered myself into the long reclined chair, she adjusted the head rest up and clipped a blue paper bib around my neck. "He'll be in in just a few minutes," she said. "The remote's there," she pointed, "Feel free to watch tv." She left and I looked around. I found a clock: it was 1:30. He was running a half hour late.
I turned the tv on, and clicked through the channels until I found an episode of Star Trek: DS9. After a couple of minutes, I recognized the episode and remembered how it resolved, so I shut the tv off.
A few minutes later when the dentist walked in, he also apologized, mentioning the emergency over lunch. (I wish their receptionist would mention when they are running late.) Because of it, he was only going to do one filling today.
"I was really hoping to get both done today," I said.
"Oh, is it for insurance?" he asked.
"No, I just wanted to get it over with. I really hate getting fillings."
He looked at something behind me. "Do you need to get back to somewhere any time soon?"
"No."
"Ok, we'll do both. It'll just set us back some."
If he thought that was going to make me feel guilty so I would relent, he was mistaken. He reclined my chair and held up his hands for me to see. "How do you like my blue gloves?"
"They're cool," I said half-heartedly because I didn't really care.
"Have you seen the Blue Man Group?" he asked, setting up his instruments.
"Yeah, I know them. Actually, I just flashed to-- have you ever seen the tv show Firefly?"
His eyes widened and he said, "Hands of blue, they come in two."
"Yes," I confirmed with some enthusiasm because it was obvious he had seen the show.
He was rightfully distressed by the association though, because the characters that wear blue gloves in Firefly are brutal, merciless killers. "I'm not like them," he assured me.
We talked a bit more about Firefly, and then he asked if I'd seen the new Battlestar Galactica series.
"I watched most of the second season, but I haven't seen all of the first."
"Ah," he said, "I watched the first season on DVD. They left me hanging with Ensign Ro telling Commander Adama what to do since season 2 isn't out on DVD yet."
"Right," I said, remembering last year's cliff-hanger. "You're mixing series," I pointed out.
"But you followed it anyway," he said appreciatively.
"Yeah." I knew without thinking who Ensign Ro was: a recurring character from Star Trek: TNG; it just took me a brief moment to make the connection that the Admiral from Battlestar Galactica was played by the same actress.
"She'll always be Ensign Ro to me," he concluded.
Maybe this won't be so bad after all.
tags: Firefly, Battlestar+Galactica, scifi+fans, dentist+appointment, meditation+while+waiting, Star+Trek:TNG, Ensign+Ro, anecdote
Two older women were there when I arrived, strategically seated several chairs apart. I took a solitary chair on the opposite wall which blocked my view of the office clock but let me watch cars going by outside. There were magazines and pamphlets around, but the burgeoning germophobe in me wanted nothing to do with them.
I'll meditate. A few minutes later, I conceded how difficult meditating in a dentist's waiting room is when you know fillings are ahead of you. It was 70 degrees and sunny out, and I was stuck inside waiting to get my teeth drilled. On the sidewalk across the street, a middle-aged man walked by wearing hot pink garden clogs. You don't see that often here. Good for him. Barbara, one of the women also waiting, was called in. The other woman kept reading the paper. I looked at my watch and tried to remember how far ahead it was set.
I could draw something, I thought to myself, but I didn't feel like it. Instead I studied the chair Barbara had been sitting in and mentally drew it: the back, the arms, the legs, this one in front of that one, the piping around the seat cushion and finally the diamond pattern on it. I had found my meditation: diligent observation. The architecture I knew well, but I didn't usually view it from this side of the room, so I scrutinized the entryway. The building was rectangular, but the front window angles in to provide some overhead cover by the time you reach the door. It's a pretty clever design.
"Claire?"
I jumped. A woman appeared in the doorway to the inner office beside me. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"No, that's all right. You just startled me a little bit," I said, trying to play down my initial reaction.
She lead me back to a smaller room and apologized for the wait: there had been an emergency. I lowered myself into the long reclined chair, she adjusted the head rest up and clipped a blue paper bib around my neck. "He'll be in in just a few minutes," she said. "The remote's there," she pointed, "Feel free to watch tv." She left and I looked around. I found a clock: it was 1:30. He was running a half hour late.
I turned the tv on, and clicked through the channels until I found an episode of Star Trek: DS9. After a couple of minutes, I recognized the episode and remembered how it resolved, so I shut the tv off.
A few minutes later when the dentist walked in, he also apologized, mentioning the emergency over lunch. (I wish their receptionist would mention when they are running late.) Because of it, he was only going to do one filling today.
"I was really hoping to get both done today," I said.
"Oh, is it for insurance?" he asked.
"No, I just wanted to get it over with. I really hate getting fillings."
He looked at something behind me. "Do you need to get back to somewhere any time soon?"
"No."
"Ok, we'll do both. It'll just set us back some."
If he thought that was going to make me feel guilty so I would relent, he was mistaken. He reclined my chair and held up his hands for me to see. "How do you like my blue gloves?"
"They're cool," I said half-heartedly because I didn't really care.
"Have you seen the Blue Man Group?" he asked, setting up his instruments.
"Yeah, I know them. Actually, I just flashed to-- have you ever seen the tv show Firefly?"
His eyes widened and he said, "Hands of blue, they come in two."
"Yes," I confirmed with some enthusiasm because it was obvious he had seen the show.
He was rightfully distressed by the association though, because the characters that wear blue gloves in Firefly are brutal, merciless killers. "I'm not like them," he assured me.
We talked a bit more about Firefly, and then he asked if I'd seen the new Battlestar Galactica series.
"I watched most of the second season, but I haven't seen all of the first."
"Ah," he said, "I watched the first season on DVD. They left me hanging with Ensign Ro telling Commander Adama what to do since season 2 isn't out on DVD yet."
"Right," I said, remembering last year's cliff-hanger. "You're mixing series," I pointed out.
"But you followed it anyway," he said appreciatively.
"Yeah." I knew without thinking who Ensign Ro was: a recurring character from Star Trek: TNG; it just took me a brief moment to make the connection that the Admiral from Battlestar Galactica was played by the same actress.
"She'll always be Ensign Ro to me," he concluded.
Maybe this won't be so bad after all.
tags: Firefly, Battlestar+Galactica, scifi+fans, dentist+appointment, meditation+while+waiting, Star+Trek:TNG, Ensign+Ro, anecdote
02 May 2006
The principle of the thing
For most of the film rolls I shot between 1999 and 2003, I paid extra to have the images scanned to CD. During those years, the company used a proprietary image format just enough different from .jpeg so that none of my programs will recognize them. It was always sort of dumb because their image viewer's main feature is its ability to export the images as .jpegs. (A year ago they finally ditched their proprietary format to make everyone's lives easier.)
I am currently dealing with my photo CDs in the old format. Though exporting and transferring all these files is a hassle, it's not what's bothering me right now. So far, 7 of my early CDs were not scanned at the high resolution level they were supposed to be. In essence, part of the service I paid for, I didn't get. I'm feeling blase about it though because it was so long ago, and it's not like their high res was even very high.
I think I'll go ahead and finish exporting from the rest of the discs so I can present them with a complete list of faulty CDs when I write to complain. Since it's possible to order high-res scans without a CD (the images are made available on the internet), it's fairly simple to determine how much I should get reimbursed or credited. Whether they will or not is another matter.
Why didn't I notice it before? Well, I didn't know as much about digital images then, and I wasn't storing most of them on my computer because it didn't have that much memory. I'm not in the mood for a hassle, but seven is too many to ignore: it's the principle of the thing.
tags: photo+CDs, proprietary+file+formats
I am currently dealing with my photo CDs in the old format. Though exporting and transferring all these files is a hassle, it's not what's bothering me right now. So far, 7 of my early CDs were not scanned at the high resolution level they were supposed to be. In essence, part of the service I paid for, I didn't get. I'm feeling blase about it though because it was so long ago, and it's not like their high res was even very high.
I think I'll go ahead and finish exporting from the rest of the discs so I can present them with a complete list of faulty CDs when I write to complain. Since it's possible to order high-res scans without a CD (the images are made available on the internet), it's fairly simple to determine how much I should get reimbursed or credited. Whether they will or not is another matter.
Why didn't I notice it before? Well, I didn't know as much about digital images then, and I wasn't storing most of them on my computer because it didn't have that much memory. I'm not in the mood for a hassle, but seven is too many to ignore: it's the principle of the thing.
tags: photo+CDs, proprietary+file+formats
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