Got the movie Pi: Faith in Chaos from Netflix over the weekend, because once in a while I like to watch a movie that stretches my brain beyond the three dimensions it usually thinks in. It’s by acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky, whose The Fountain I also checked out just recently. The movies are not for the cinematically timid. They’re meant to blow your mind and make you think. Mostly, Pi made me think, “Wow, the guys who make LOST sure lifted a lot of stuff from this Aronofsky guy…” Pi’s got nosebleeds after flashy trips and significantly powerful numbers that are meant to save humanity. I kept waiting for Hurley to walk into the movie and say, “Dude, nice haircut. What are you doing with that drill?”
Ultimately, I think I’m tired of these deep, meaningful films. I like to have my mind stretched, which is why I read stuff like the books of Michio Kaku about string theory and quantum physics. But I think in my fiction I prefer to have something with a little more chocolate cream or baked apples, dude!
I swear, I used to have a blog around here somewhere. Probably lost under all this Facebook, Twitter, and various other social media stuff. I actually meant to update it recently, being as it was my birthday, and I was on vacation, and I had some really deep insights into the meaning of life and stuff, but then something shiny kind of zipped by and all of a sudden I had a new car (Honda Fit) and I was back at work trying to figure out where all my free time was.
Yes, you did hear right…new car. I really loved my 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid. It felt so green, despite the fact that it was blue. But it developed an ABS chip problem that was draining the battery. And when I looked back through my phonebook sized stack of warranty work (including replacing the hybrid battery pack), I realized that the same ABS chip problem precipitated months of regular trips to the dealership. Even my wife, as she shuffled through the pages in the stack sorting them, finally said, “Um, do you REALLY want to fix this clunker on your own dime?”
So we spent a few days of our vacation on car stuff. What Natasha calls my “most expensive birthday present ever.” But, in looking at the maintenance schedule for the Fit, it’s going to be a LOT cheaper to maintain than the hybrid. And it doesn’t have that gremlin guy from the Bugs Bunny cartoon under the hood with his little hammer.
Now that I’ve actually found this blog again, I think I might try to upgrade the look some. I’ve been meaning to finally get around to posting some more bad poetry and stuff. Hmmm…you might want to consider deleting your bookmarks…
This is a favorite — The DM of the Rings web comic, which tells the epic tale of Lord of the Rings reimagined as a game of Dungeons and Dragons. I laughed very had all the way through it. It’s got elements of the Knights of the Dinner Table strips, which are some of my favorites, and it also reminds me of all the mistakes I have made running role-playing game campaigns over the years. Helms-off to the creator as every strip was a hilarious read.
Here’s an awesome sneak peek at Star Wars: The Old Republic, the MMO coming from LucasArts set in the ancient and exciting history of the Star Wars galaxy. Last I heard it was going to be free to play, too, supported by micro-transactions (for example, paying a couple of bucks for something that would help you level up faster.)
Edit: Updating the embedded video to a link to the video, since I can’t seem to figure out how to make their player not autoplay, and I hate videos that start playing as soon as you enter a site.
Went to the first Disney Star Wars Weekends this weekend. Fantastic fun, as usual, with the best guest mix I think you could ask for. Jay Laga’aia, the host this year, welcomed Warwick Davis and Ray Park. In the “And now you know, and knowing is half the battle” category, Ray is playing Snake Eyes in the new G.I. Joe movie, which looks like an absolute feast of adventure and action.
Why, oh why are they making a movie of Land of the Lost with Will Ferrell being a total ass?
The TV series was probably just about my favorite show of all time. Dinosaurs. Time travel. Dimensional hopping. Deep science fiction. Crystals. Ape people. Fantasy. Sleestak that scared the crap out of me, for crying out loud! It was truly a mind-stretching experience for a young person interested in fantasy and science fiction.
If you watch the trailer with the sound off, it’s beautiful. It looks like something I would have drooled to see, minus Will Ferrell and the lame ass assistants of his. (And I’m NOT linking to the trailer. Google it, if you want. I’m pissed at the moviemakers.) The effects are gorgeous. The shot of all the Sleestak made me jump out of my seat and cheer. And then I went back to brooding about what a total piece of drek they were turning out. It’s just like Eddie Murphy and The Haunted Mansion — we could have had a great movie, instead we got a vehicle for a star with a lack of respect for the original material.
The series is great. Natasha bought me the DVDs for Christmas and we devoured them. I highly recommend going back and watching them and wondering about what might have been.
