Category: Television & Movies

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Gadgetology Television & Movies

Blessed are the MIDI makers

So I’ve got a new phone. This one’s only my second cell phone in three years, so I think I’m doing good on the whole not-switching-phones-every-three-minutes thing. To me, cell phones are like cars: if they do what they’re supposed to do, who cares how blingy they are? Still, this one’s got some nifty options, and I’ve been playing around with a couple of them this morning, shooting .MID files over to it via Bluetooth to use as ringtones. So yes, for a few shining moments, I’ll be joining the annoying ringtone crowd…and I’ll probably switch ’em off after a few days and go back to a plain old ringer sound. But it’s fun to mess around with some of the free MIDI files I’ve downloaded – I’d seriously consider assigning different ones to different callers if this phone could do that (bummer, my old phone could do that until it met with that Unfortunate Accident this weekend). Right now, anyone calling me sets off a boisterously loud (and really good) rendition of Ben Folds’ “Steven’s Last Night In Town”. Though I can think of individuals who I’d rather have setting off, say, The Prisoner, Doctor Who, Katamari Damacy or Monty Python themes, or Alan Parsons’ “I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You”. Ah well – I’m sure the fascination will wear off pretty soon. It’s still just a bleedin’ phone. I’ll probably get more mileage out of making kitty wallpaper for it.

I see in this news item that BBC America is bringing Torchwood to the U.S. at some unspecified future date. I wonder just how chopped up it’s going to be – I haven’t had Dish in over a year now, so I’m not sure what BBCA’s standards are on language, nudity, and big damn gay space heroes. The press release also says something about BBCA showing an “all-new season of Doctor Who” – eh what?? Are they ripping it out from under Sci-Fi? That’d be a bummer, simply because BBCA is still satellite-only fare in a lot of places.… Read more

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Gadgetology Music Television & Movies

The night the video gear slept

Trying out a new Winamp crossfader plugin today. I’m sure that’s old hat, but I didn’t even know that such things even existed. It’s quite a bit of fun, actually. I gotta try this out with an all-soundtrack mix and a hot game of Dune 2000. Seriously, when massive corporate ownership has leached local news (and therefore any local value to anyone other than advertisers) out of radio, do we need radio anymore with stuff like this around?

Dave gets a mention in USA Today in this article about Lost and the unusual number of characters named after prominent philosophers, and whether or not that’s a coincidence. I thought it was a pretty interesting article myself. Dave also writes our nifty Lost guide, and I’m sure he’s already wondering how to tackle this week’s episode. Which, for those who might’ve missed my last entry, I loved. 😆 Be sure to check out his blog, which is rapidly becoming more frequently updated than mine.

With some of our first bad weather of the year inbound, I’ve powered the Avid down, possibly for a couple of days until things clear up. If one operates by the axiom that doing a lot of powering up and powering down of a computer is less stressful on the machine than simply leaving it on, a computer with external SCSI drives and outboard modules and a VTR is even more susceptible to problems. So it gets a day off. It’s on a pretty robust surge protector, but I’d rather not take a chance with it.

Congrats to Doctor Who, Galactica and SG-1 for their Hugo nominations. SG-1’s 200 was nominated, which I’m kinda iffy on, but it’s been the most entertaining episode of the current season to date, so I’ll give ’em that. Unlike the Nebula nominations, which went to the Galactica boxing episode, the Hugo nod is for Downloaded (see if I didn’t call that one here). Again, The Girl In The Fireplace was nominated, this time accompanied by School Reunion (ehhh…I loved the episode, but I’m not sure I really see the great SF storytelling in it) and Army Of Ghosts / Doomsday (ehhh…see above). I guess nobody watched The Idiot’s Lantern after all. My prediction: Downloaded will take the trophy.… Read more

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Funny Stuff Serious Stuff Television & Movies

Sorry, they didn’t jump the shark here either

On the subject of tonight’s Lost…BWAH HAH HAAA! I’ve been privately asking myself “who the hell are Nikki and Paolo?” ever since the casting announcement, and I took a perverse pleasure in tonight’s episode asking the same question, answering it, and closing the books on those two with what has to be some of the blackest humor I’ve seen this side of…well…anything currently airing on FX. I know these two met an utterly gruesome fate, but at the same time, it was hysterically funny precisely because they had been so far back in the background as to almost become furniture. It’s no slight against the actors, but…wow. One wonders if there were bigger plans at one point and this was the course correction, or if this was the producers’ early April Fools’ gag for us. 😆 Seriously, between the promo for this episode leading everyone up the garden path with an Others connection that just wasn’t there, and a certain someone from a certain gritty space opera vanishing from the credits for a bit, I’m enjoying some of the ways that the current crop of producers are using their shows’ “meta data” (for lack of a better expression) to screw with our heads, and not just the allotted story time of the episodes themselves. It’s rather fun. Sorta like this episode. And how perverse is it to lock down Billy Dee Williams for what amounts to a teensy tinsy cameo? One imagines that his agent might be told that he’s got a lot of guts to offer him the next job after what he pulled…

I see that Arkansas’ first choice for a new head basketball coach after the ouster of Stan Heath didn’t take the bait. I don’t wish Frank Broyles any ill will as the outgoing athletic director, but I worry that this will be his legacy to the U of A’s basketball program: the last two coaches have been treated so poorly (though I’d argue that Nolan Richardson did plenty of damage to himself as well) that they may have trouble finding a choice candidate. Maybe not even someone with a career record like one winning season at Kent State. I guess we’ll really be able to tally the damage if players start defecting to other schools.

By the way, the other day as I was walking past my linen closet, I heard music playing inside. Guess what I heard when I opened the door? … Read more

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Music Television & Movies

All along the…wait, WHAT!?

There’s so many zingers in the season finale of Galactica, I’d think this episode was sponsored by Dolly Madison. I don’t even know where to start. I’m going to have to re-watch it to try to process it all again, though one thing that sunk in with the first viewing was that the music was flat-out awesome. I e-mailed Bear McCreary to find out if “All Along The Watchtower” is going to be on the season 3 soundtrack CD, and then I paid his site a visit, only to discover that he’s got a blog for every episode, and the entry for Crossroads Part 2 says that yes, there will be a season 3 CD, and yes, “Watchtower” will be on it. (Come to think of it, I really dug the music from last week’s Lost episode as well, so as long as McCreary and Giacchino and their respective labels want to keep doing season soundtracks, count me in.) It’s hard to find a version of “Watchtower” that really blows the doors off the barn the way the original did, or especially the Hendrix version, but this interpretation of it just floored me. (Slight bit of self-pimpery: if you haven’t already, you should read our 2005 interview with Bear, who’s just one of the nicest guys I’ve spoken to in a sub-career of interviewing film and TV composers. For such a soft-spoken soul, this guy makes some awesome noise. And he’s taking over the music for Sci-Fi’s Eureka next season!)

Other than that…I have no comments (or spoilers) at the moment on the story itself. Still digesting. I’m sure I’ll have things to say later though.

Not much else to report from the past few days. Same old incidents and accidents. I’ve been soaking up the Alan Parsons Project remastered goodness, and as much as I like it (the track of Eye In The Sky orchestral & choral overdubs, sans rhythm section tracks, is just breathtaking), I’m coming away from each one just a little bit let down. I must’ve gotten really spoiled by the relative wealth of “found and finished” songs on the ELO remasters. I wouldn’t even be making comparisons, except that virtually the same team at Sony is responsible for both groups’ remastered albums.

Counting down the days to the new season of Doctor Who. Dunno about you, but I’m pretty happy – for the first time in quite a while, all of the shows I’ve been following faithfully have gotten renewed this year, even though at least a couple of them (Galactica and Torchwood) won’t be seen again until next year. (Word has it that this is also likely to be the case with Lost once it finishes its season.) I know some folks are bemoaning the fact that there’s a long gap between seasons, but y’know, somehow the Brits have been able to settle into this rhythm of watching TV, so I don’t see why we can’t do the same. Besides, I’m sure I’ll have something to occupy my time between now and then.… Read more

Categories
Gaming Television & Movies Toiling In The Pixel Mines

Lotsa stuff to look at

Plenty of stuff for you to gawk at today…

I’ve started a “promo blog” for the Phosphor Dot Fossils DVD project here. I’ve left room for comments, though I’m not expecting anyone to actually make any, and I can’t put my hand on my heart and say it’ll be updated more than once a week. 😆 I figured it’s about time to start beating the drum, and maybe getting a finger on the pulse of how many people are interested in the thing.

The unexpected “re-discovery” of a long-lost DVD of my 2003 demo reel has enabled me to add something to ye olde work blawg that I’ve wanted to add for ages, but thought was lost for good: several news packages that I edited a few years ago. Oddly enough, I found a second DVD which contained the same stuff, only with a running commentary that I had recorded in 2003. This version of my demo reel was a bit of a vanity piece – I made several copies and handed them out at CGE ’03 just in case I made any valuable contacts. I can brag just a little bit here – Howard Scott Warshaw, creator/producer/host of Once Upon Atari (and, oh yeah, designer of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, E.T. and Yars’ Revenge for the 2600), liked it quite a bit. I’ve included the commentaries here just for curiosity’s sake. All of the packages were actually slated with the reporter/photog credits and original airdates, so credit is given where credit is due. Hopefully the talent involved doesn’t mind me posting this stuff after all these years – they should be proud, because it’s some of their best work too. (All of the reporters involved have since moved on to bigger and better markets – coincidence? 😆 ) … Read more

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Critters Serious Stuff Television & Movies

Bacon

I’m sitting here watching a nail-biter shaping up between the Hogs and USC at the NCAA Tournament. Well, okay, it’d really be more of a genuine nail-biter if, oh, say, the score was a little bit closer. I’m not sure if this has really gotten outside of the state, but the rumor has it that coach Stan Heath is out of a job if he loses tonight’s game. A local TV sports commentator said it best tonight: every time that rumors have flown around that Arkansas football coach Houston Nutt is considering another job, the school has issued copious denials that Nutt is leaving, as well as bending over backward to let everyone know how much they love Nutt and don’t want him to go anywhere but wish him well anyway. Now we have the rumor train rolling, saying that the school itself is going to nix Heath five years after he took over during the firestorm of the Nolan Richardson controversy…and not a single official denial from the University of Arkansas. Now, on the one hand, I can understand not dignifying an outrageous rumor with a response, but this kinda demands on – this could do some very real damage to the school (and I’m sure it’s helping the team play a better game to have this crap hanging over their heads). For the sake of argument, let’s say that Heath is indeed out (I guess we’ll know in about five and a half minutes as I write this)…what the hell kind of coaching talent can the school attract when the scuttlebutt is that you’ll be fired for not bringing home a solid wall of conference or national titles? I didn’t entirely buy Richardson’s accusations a few years ago that the school didn’t seem kindly disposed toward having a black coach on staff, but you know, I find myself re-assessing that now.

The wife and I went out tonight and blew some money. There, I’m not even gonna try to sugarcoat that. But we both kinda needed to. Got some baby books, and I raided the bargain section: a collectibles/price guide to Star Wars merchandise (slightly outdated with its circa-Attack Of The Clones publication date), a book on storm chasing (and chasers), and a biography of Neil Armstrong. (There, you now know what to expect in the book review section for the rest of this year – that, and whatever Dave, Philip and Rob happen to be reading! 😆 ) A visit to a store that I don’t normally frequent also got me very nearly completely caught on classic series Doctor Who DVDs. I’m still missing The Web Planet (and I know folks who argue that this isn’t really missing much) and The Hand Of Fear, but that’s it. (I blew Amazon UK store credit – thank you, dear readers – on the recent UK New Beginnings box set release, so when I say caught up, I mean caught up. I also spent a few minutes today entering every online contest I could find for a giveaway copy of the next release, Survival, which promises some killer bonus features, and of course it’s Othello’s favorite Doctor Who, with its killer black cats.)

Speaking of cats, Oberon is at the vet’s office overnight tonight after having his claws removed. Poor little guy. You know, it’s strange. So many cats have come through the door of this house that we’ve gotten attached to (i.e. Sampson or Gabby) or that I’ve taken one look at and said “Not the one, no, no, not the one…and this…is the wrong kitten” (i.e. Obsidian). But somehow, Obi has been the one just about from the moment I set eyes on him. Maybe it’s because the poor little guy’s such a dimwit that this automatic instinct to protect the slowest of the herd kicks in. But for whatever reason, I love the little guy and miss him pretty badly now that he’s not here for a night. He really is the Derek Zoolander of the cat world – pretty, but not exactly touched by brilliance. I’ll be happy to see his cat carrier come back through the door with him in it.

Well, the Hogs lost by nearly 20 points. I guess we’ll see what kind of mess comes with the Heath rumors.… Read more

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Television & Movies

Wait…first? What!?

Mabel pointed us toward the new Star Trek: New Voyages e-zine over at the ST: Origins forums (the Kentucky-based fan film project I’m pitching in a little bit of help with); it’s pretty darn slick. (You can take a look at it here.) But by far the one thing that blew me away, even more than Ron Thornton helping out with effects was the little ad on the “back cover” (if indeed a PDF file can be said to have such a thing. … Read more

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Television & Movies

I get it, I get it – time for another movie.

Okay, okay, okay. I think everyone has e-mailed me about Sci-Fi’s Galactica Videomaker contest about three times apiece now. The thought has occurred that if Olivia can beat the Daleks, surely it’s time for Oberon to take on the toasters. But, while this may be disappointing, the thought has also occurred that I may be a little top-heavy with other projects-in-progress and might not make it in under the wire.

What really got me, though, in reading over the terms & conditions on Sci-Fi’s site, was this clause – let’s call it the “Star Wars Kid Clause”. … Read more

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Critters Gaming Television & Movies

Reality keeps calling me away from my dreams

Sorry for the lack of updates this week. I’ve been a little bit busy.

Now that we’re running up on three months since Oberon came into our lives, one thing is becoming quite dense: our Obi is denser than a neutron star. I love the little fuzzy guy, but by having him neutered, we’ve automatically raised the collective IQ of future generations of cats in this area by default. He’s fiercely loyal and lovable, and loves everyone who lives under this roof with him, but somehow he’s just missing some vital feline survival instincts, and I really question whether or not he’d still be alive if we hadn’t taken him in. Poor little furry doofus.

To make sure he does stay around, though, we’ve made an appointment to have him declawed next week. He’s a great cat to just pick up and cuddle, and he never bites or scratches unless something catches him completely off-guard. My youngest niece has a cat named “Spaz” who she hauls around like a sack of potatoes and plays with, and gives her no problems at all. Obi has great potential to be my kid’s “Spaz” – he’s got that same lovable, luggable and harmless thing going for him, and we want to keep it that way. The other kitties have taken him on board completely (though Othello still gets a bit irritated with him if the young’un is being a bit too playful). … Read more