Ever wanted to fly, or jump off a mountain without dying? Now you can.
I am so there.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
The real thing
To this day, only two college classes have really educated me, and in both cases the instructors were adjunct -- meaning only part-time, taking a break from their day jobs to share their real world experiences with students. Timothy P Werhner, an astronomer teaching astronomy, was one, and Carol Chiodini, a director and screenwriter teaching screenwriting, was the other. While Werhner has fallen off my map (not surprising, as I recall him missing our first week of class due to being stranded at the South Pole!) I found a nice clip that one of Chiodini's students put up on You Tube. It briefly and accurately sums up what she's all about, and I think it is worth sharing.
I've sat through so many different classes with instructors who barely even hide the fact that they are only there for the paycheck, who don't care about your grade or what becomes of you after you leave the class. After great classes like Werhner's and Chiodini's, instructors who merely go through the motions stand out horribly. It almost feels like being taken backwards.
We desparately need more Timothy Werhners and Carol Chiodinis. I may not even write another screenplay, I'm more of a novel guy, but Carol's passion is something that has and will continue to inspire me to work hard at what I love to do because, like she said, if you don't you will never make it: The most important lesson I've learned to thus far, and a lesson that most of those other instructors are probably learning too late.
I've sat through so many different classes with instructors who barely even hide the fact that they are only there for the paycheck, who don't care about your grade or what becomes of you after you leave the class. After great classes like Werhner's and Chiodini's, instructors who merely go through the motions stand out horribly. It almost feels like being taken backwards.
We desparately need more Timothy Werhners and Carol Chiodinis. I may not even write another screenplay, I'm more of a novel guy, but Carol's passion is something that has and will continue to inspire me to work hard at what I love to do because, like she said, if you don't you will never make it: The most important lesson I've learned to thus far, and a lesson that most of those other instructors are probably learning too late.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Radio done right
It started out as something called The Music Genome Project: a collection of self-proclaimed "music-loving technologists" who wanted to find a way to link different types of sounds together in an effort to help people more efficiently discover the music they love. I can't speak for the whole project, but for me it has become the go-to place for letting good new music find me. Now known as Pandora Radio, this is the easiest, best, most diverse and non-corporate radio station I've ever heard. 
There are no commercials, no fees; you don't even have to download a player. You just go to the site, it asks what your favorite band is, and within seconds it is playing high-quality music not just by your favorite band, but also by other bands that have a similar sound. The more bands you enter in your favorites category, the more diversity you will find in the music being played.
My favorite part, and what makes this unique from any other radio program, is that if you hate the song playing you can give it a "thumbs down." The music stops instantly, the program recognizes that you don't want to hear that type of sound ever again, and it immediately fetches another song closely tied to your favorites. In this way it is truly your radio station.
Now if they would just realize what an awesome thing they have on their hands and find a way to bring this to satellite radio, they would find themselves at least one willing subscriber in myself.
You can thank me later. For now just have some fun and check it out.
There are no commercials, no fees; you don't even have to download a player. You just go to the site, it asks what your favorite band is, and within seconds it is playing high-quality music not just by your favorite band, but also by other bands that have a similar sound. The more bands you enter in your favorites category, the more diversity you will find in the music being played. My favorite part, and what makes this unique from any other radio program, is that if you hate the song playing you can give it a "thumbs down." The music stops instantly, the program recognizes that you don't want to hear that type of sound ever again, and it immediately fetches another song closely tied to your favorites. In this way it is truly your radio station.
Now if they would just realize what an awesome thing they have on their hands and find a way to bring this to satellite radio, they would find themselves at least one willing subscriber in myself.
You can thank me later. For now just have some fun and check it out.
Monday, January 21, 2008
My name is Jason, and I am a movie hopper
I paid for one movie and saw three on Saturday. God bless "Movie Malls" as I call them. They are too big to be able to hold any kind of order in terms of making sure punks like me don't spend the whole day hopping from one film to the next. I won't say which one I paid for and which two I didn't, but I will say that all three were satisfying. Here's some short reviews of the three I saw, and some attached previews for those who are interested.
CLOVERFIELD
Currently #1 at the Box Office and deservedly so, it has been a long time since a movie carried this kind of hype, and even longer since a movie lived up to that hype like Cloverfield does. From start to finish, it is nearly impossible not to be into this movie. The first person perspective is a huge part of that, of course, and for that reason you'll find many a critic who will instantly want to compare this to The Blair Witch Project, which is partly unfair to both movies but also partly effective in that Cloverfield revitalizes the monster movie just as Blair Witch did for horror. Because so much of this movie is tied in with "the experience" of seeing through the protagonist's eyes, saying any more would ruin it. Suffice to say I highly recommend this 84-minute groundbreaker.
CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR
Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman strut their stuff to the tune of Charlie Wilson's War, Mike Nichols'(Closer, Primary Colors) semi-serious film based on a true story about a Congressman who defeated the Russians single-handedly in 1980's Afghanistan without raising any kind of noise outside of Washington. The story itself is highly generalized, but it doesn't matter with a cast this good performing together. Hanks is awesome, and Seymour Hoffman is hilarious as the foul-mouthed CIA spy. This is just a good 90 minutes at the movies, especially for fans of the actors involved.
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Paul Thomas Anderson returns from a five year hiatus to give us There Will Be Blood, something completely different from his earlier work. In Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch Drunk Love, Anderson's fingerprints were easily noticed, whereas here it seems like the director has resided to let the cameras roll while Daniel Day-Lewis puts together one of the best acting performances since the turn of this century. Playing Oil Tycoon Daniel Plainview, Day-Lewis takes what was good about his Bill the Butcher (Gangs of New York) and lets it run wild here. Plainview is the character you love to hate. He is self-made man, a liar, a murderer, a thief, a manipulator, incapable of love, or at least admitting love, for anything but oil and himself. Lewis is winged by a solid performance from young Paul Dano, who plays a different kind of fraud from an equally powerful industry: religion. Watching the two frauds as they try to conquer the world with their different means to different ends makes this a fascinating and symbolic case study, but one that may fall just short of full realization. What makes this movie worth seeing is the performances of Dano and especially Day-Lewis. Their final scene together, and the final scene of the film, may go unnoticed right now by the mainstream, but mark my words: Thirty years from now it will be remembered as one of the landmark scenes in cinema history. Give Paul Thomas Anderson, one of the most talented directors of our time, full props for realizing what was happening and standing back to let it live itself out on the screen.
And all of this for nine bucks. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday!
Currently #1 at the Box Office and deservedly so, it has been a long time since a movie carried this kind of hype, and even longer since a movie lived up to that hype like Cloverfield does. From start to finish, it is nearly impossible not to be into this movie. The first person perspective is a huge part of that, of course, and for that reason you'll find many a critic who will instantly want to compare this to The Blair Witch Project, which is partly unfair to both movies but also partly effective in that Cloverfield revitalizes the monster movie just as Blair Witch did for horror. Because so much of this movie is tied in with "the experience" of seeing through the protagonist's eyes, saying any more would ruin it. Suffice to say I highly recommend this 84-minute groundbreaker.
Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman strut their stuff to the tune of Charlie Wilson's War, Mike Nichols'(Closer, Primary Colors) semi-serious film based on a true story about a Congressman who defeated the Russians single-handedly in 1980's Afghanistan without raising any kind of noise outside of Washington. The story itself is highly generalized, but it doesn't matter with a cast this good performing together. Hanks is awesome, and Seymour Hoffman is hilarious as the foul-mouthed CIA spy. This is just a good 90 minutes at the movies, especially for fans of the actors involved.
Paul Thomas Anderson returns from a five year hiatus to give us There Will Be Blood, something completely different from his earlier work. In Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch Drunk Love, Anderson's fingerprints were easily noticed, whereas here it seems like the director has resided to let the cameras roll while Daniel Day-Lewis puts together one of the best acting performances since the turn of this century. Playing Oil Tycoon Daniel Plainview, Day-Lewis takes what was good about his Bill the Butcher (Gangs of New York) and lets it run wild here. Plainview is the character you love to hate. He is self-made man, a liar, a murderer, a thief, a manipulator, incapable of love, or at least admitting love, for anything but oil and himself. Lewis is winged by a solid performance from young Paul Dano, who plays a different kind of fraud from an equally powerful industry: religion. Watching the two frauds as they try to conquer the world with their different means to different ends makes this a fascinating and symbolic case study, but one that may fall just short of full realization. What makes this movie worth seeing is the performances of Dano and especially Day-Lewis. Their final scene together, and the final scene of the film, may go unnoticed right now by the mainstream, but mark my words: Thirty years from now it will be remembered as one of the landmark scenes in cinema history. Give Paul Thomas Anderson, one of the most talented directors of our time, full props for realizing what was happening and standing back to let it live itself out on the screen.
And all of this for nine bucks. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
What Disney does for us
There are a lot of Disney geeks out there, and although I try to pretend I'm above that sometimes, there's no denying I am one of them. I have grown up with Disney movies and theme parks and love them like family, which means I'm ecstatic when they do something wonderful, and personally wounded when they screw up.
Now there are different types of Disney geeks to be sure. Some suck up whatever Disney spits out as gold, some treat Disney like a drug and have their homes decorated with Disney themes, one for each room (I've seen this!), and then there are some who quietly enjoy the Disney brand.
I'd like to think I am somewhere in the middle, and I'd also like to think the author of this excellent little essay is as well. Check this out. He talks about his childhood memories of Epcot Center's now-endangered-to-be-if-not-already-extinct Wonders of Life Pavillion, and a recent and probably final trip to see it as an adult. He really puts his finger on what a positive impact growing up with Disney can and often does have.
Now there are different types of Disney geeks to be sure. Some suck up whatever Disney spits out as gold, some treat Disney like a drug and have their homes decorated with Disney themes, one for each room (I've seen this!), and then there are some who quietly enjoy the Disney brand.
I'd like to think I am somewhere in the middle, and I'd also like to think the author of this excellent little essay is as well. Check this out. He talks about his childhood memories of Epcot Center's now-endangered-to-be-if-not-already-extinct Wonders of Life Pavillion, and a recent and probably final trip to see it as an adult. He really puts his finger on what a positive impact growing up with Disney can and often does have.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Am I missing something?
What's up with the press photos with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton lately? Is the press putting together a collage just in case a love affair sprouts up in the near future? Every other picture is a close-up of one, with the other looming behind them, partially out of focus, scowling like a creepy stalker ex.I confess I haven't been watching the debates, but surely nothing was said to ellicit what these photos seem to be suggesting. These two might even be working in the same administration in the near future. Or is that just it? Plenty of photos to turn to when the first bogus rumor pops up that the male President and female Vice President are doing it dirty in the oval office? Jeb Bush will be there four years later preaching about returning integrity to the presidency,
waving these photos in the air, and around and around we go. Oh God no.In all seriousness, the press needs to give up trying to glamorize these debates. At the end of the day these two are on the same team, they're not in a relationship, and neither is stalking the other. This is kind of like the photo journalistic version of a sound bite. Cheap tricks, fellas. Photograph what happened and show as much as you can. Leave the interpreting to us.
"Is she back there? Don't look! Just tell me if she's there."
Friday, January 4, 2008
The Winter Classic
On New Years Day the NHL held their second ever outdoor Hockey game, this one at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, NY -- normally home of the NFL's Buffalo Bills. While I didn't get to watch the full game, just going by the highlights I have to say this is the coolest thing I've seen from the NHL since they did this in Canada in 2003. It really makes me miss living up north. Have a look at the highlights, and make sure you stay tuned for the dramatic shootout finish.
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