See you later, 2007. You done me wrong. You done me real wrong.

You were a tough year--maybe the toughest yet. And yet I still have some kind of regard for you. I don't think I would call it "like" or "fond memories" necessarily, but I am strangely sad to see you go. It's like when you get in a fight in fourth grade and pound each other with your little fists and roll around in the dirt until you're out of breath and agree the fight is over and then pass each other in the hallway at school the next day and exchange a look that says, "We're not going to be great friends or anything, but I respect you somehow even if I would still love to land one last good one right in your front teeth because we went through something together, you know, and saw it through until both of us were completely expended."

Yeah, that's about right. So goodbye, 2007. Sad to see you go, but don't go walking down any dark allies, you know what I mean?

Hey folks. I'll keep this short and sweet because time is a bit limited for me at the moment. I wanted to do a small plug for my candidate of choice before my access to the internet is severely limited. Watch the vid when you get time, maybe just turn it up while you're doing chores or whatnot. Kudos to Danny for sending me the link as this helped solidify why I support Obama for president.

I'm voting for Obama primarily for change. I was very skeptical of any of the candidates at first and moreso of Obama because of his stardom. I wasn't a "Deaniac" in '04 but rather a "Clarkie" and felt he was the best candidate at the time. I felt at least I gave it considerable thought before I jumped on and the same goes for my choice for Obama. Regardless of whoever gets the nomination, I will be voting for the Democrat... because we need change.

I think Obama fits the ticket. He's got plenty of experience from the grassroots all the way up to the federal level and I am sure he will pick the finest advisors also. I feel he's the one to help put a stop to the polarization (buzz word I know) we've experienced the last several years. He's not perfect but none of them are. Obama isn't my be all end all, but he is a fine candidate, young, fresh, no BS and I'm pretty confident he can get the job done. It's definitely time for some serious change. I don't think any of the other Democratic candidates can offer that, let alone actually uniting both liberals and conservatives. To boot, polls have shown repeatedly that he would fair well in uniting Dems, Reps and Independents. Enough with the divisiveness and polarization as I'm tired of it just like you probably are too.

I've served in the military with pride the last 10.5 years and will continue to do so. I've seen good leaders and I've seen bad ones. I served stateside in support of OIF and OEF from '03 to '05 and am about to go on my second mobilization over to the sandbox. Obama impresses me with his grassroots up experience and leadership. I've worked on several campaigns from the grassroots level and know what it takes. It's rewarding but it can suck badly from time to time. I've had limited exposure to the state legislature in MO and TX. I've also met with several Senators and Congress men and women so it's interesting to see the the path that Obama has taken. He wasn't just some rich privileged kid with a famous last name (only a funny one at that). He's earned it. I know leadership isn't all about speeches and rhetoric, believe me, I know... I've met a lot of fruitcakes out there in the military. Obama is a serious guy and he strikes me as the fella that wants serious change. I want serious change. Electing him would be a serious blow to the system and a serious blow to the Democratic party because he's not part of the status quo or the political machine. He's not taking money from PACs or special interests either; this spells leadership to me as well as change. He's a fine leader and worthy of your vote.

So, all this said, if you live in Iowa or know someone in Iowa and/or New Hampshire give them a call or shoot them an email and encourage them to caucus/vote for Obama.

Blue Planet: Seas of Life

Courtesy of Gringo:

Jericho is definitely at the top of my very large "Shows to Watch" pile. I really enjoyed the one episode I did watch. Set your DVRs for February 12th!

Mr. X Volume 2 by Dean Motter

I wish I got one of these for Christmas.

The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary by Robert Alter

This is my obligatory year-end top ten list. These are probably not the ten best things to be released in 2007 but they're the ten that I have enjoyed the most.

10. I Am America (And So Can You!)

I must confess that I never got into The Colbert Report, mostly because it went on the air right around the time that I found myself too busy for TV. I even had to quit watching The Daily Show because I couldn't keep up with the 30 minutes per day it demanded. But I like the idea of Stephen Colbert as a TV pundit, and when he is at his best I think he's both funny and viciously satirical (like when he was a guest at the White House Correspondents' Dinner).

Because I don't get to see Colbert on TV anymore I leaped at the chance to read a book written in the style of O'Reilly, Coulter, Hannity, et al. The text of the book is a lot like what I've seen of the Report: most of the humor derives from Colbert's bloated ego and self-righteousness. It's funny and there are some great lines, but too much at once can get a little tedious.

What's really great in the book is the stuff that works only in the print medium: the graphics, charts, and the design of the book itself. I love the way the book parodies this particular genre of non-fiction, from huge portrait on the front with name and title in huge letters (above the name is a blurb that reads, "From the author of I Am America (And So Can You!)") to the back cover picture that shows Colbert enjoying the book in hand. It's these little bonuses that really make the book fun to read (I definitely recommend picking up the physical book instead of the audio version).

9. The Cartoon History of the Modern World

Larry Gonick has apparently made it his mission to distill all human knowledge into comic book form. His works so far include the Cartoon Guides to Chemistry, Physics, Statistics, Genetics, and of course the Cartoon History of the Universe, Books I, II, and III. The Cartoon History of the Modern World picks up where the latter left off, and although the title is slightly more modest, it is no less ambitious.

As you would expect, a comic book account of all known history is not exactly in-depth, but it is a very decent survey of the major historical events of our world. What Gonick does best in these volumes is show what was happening simultaneously throughout the world during a given period. For example, you may know all about Spain's colonization of South America, but do you know what was happening in China during those same years? Such a broad perspective becomes particularly relevant in this volume as the search for new passages to India spawned a global economy for the first time in history.

The other great thing about Larry Gonick is his sense of humor. Every page is a mix of straight facts, cartoony sight gags, and witty commentary. Gonick is not afraid to wear his political bias on his sleeve and criticize both historical figures and modern historians. In this volume he takes several opportunities to get in little jabs at George W. Bush, drawing comparisons that would be better left to the reader to make. He doesn't call out our president by name, but makes strong suggestions, as when he says Machiavelli's The Prince must be used as a guide book by certain leaders today. Such interjections feel out of place, and when someone reads the book 15 years from now it will seem dated. But I can forgive Gonick's occasional indulgence in contemporary political commentary because the rest of his history is as enlightening and entertaining as always.

8. The Yiddish Policemen's Union

The premise of Michael Chabon's new novel is one of the most interesting that I have seen. At the end of World War II some people were interested in creating a temporary settlement for Jewish refugees in Alaska. Although it was still only a territory at the time Alaska had a non-voting representative in congress who managed to block the effort. This is all true history. In The Yiddish Policemen's Union Michael Chabon imagines an alternate universe in which that non-voting representative died in an accident and the movement to create an Alaskan Jewish settlement succeeded. Fast forward to 2007 and the temporary settlement is about to revert back to the state of Alaska and the thousands of Jews who live there will again be displaced.

This is not the plot of the novel. In an act of Tolkienesque ambition Chabon has invented a 60-year history of this alternate reality to use as the backdrop for the novel. The story focuses on a detective in the settlement who is solving one last murder before his department is turned over to the new local government. For the most part the novel adheres closely to conventions of the mystery genre: the murder of a nameless junkie gradually unravels to reveal an international conspiracy involving multiple governments and the Hasidic mafia. It's all done very self-consciously, and Michael Chabon has some fun playing with genres. The protagonist is a cross between two stereotypes: the hard-boiled, down-on-his-luck detective and the neurotic, self-loathing Jew--a combination that makes for some very dark humor.

Bu what makes the novel really enjoyable to read is the richness of the world Chabon has created. At every turn the detective's travels provide an opportunity to explore the cultural mingling of Jewish and Eskimo cultures that make up a society unlike anything that exists in the real world.

7. Sweeney Todd

I've been looking forward to seeing this ever since I heard Tim Burton would be directing. It's about time Sondheim's masterpiece was brought to screen, and Burton is the perfect fit to capture the horror and humor of it. For the most part, the film did not disappoint. It's visually spectacular, and while the lead actors are obviously not Broadway singers they pull their parts off well. There was really only one thing that kept my enjoyment from being complete: the film omits the iconic Sweeney Todd theme that opens and closes the musical. It's an exciting piece of music and I was really looking forward to seeing that song brought to screen more than anything else. I can see why Burton may have thought it didn't fit in his movie, and the rest of the movie is good enough to make me want to see it again and again, but that one glaring omission will always leave the movie less than perfect in my mind.

6. The Onion News Network

Political satire has thrived the last several years, thanks to Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and the wealth of material that pours out of Washington every day. Before Comedy Central got in the game, though, there was The Onion, and when it comes to lampooning news media and American culture they are still the best. In 2007 they added to their website video content from a fake 24-hour news network that features headline news, In the Know (the obligatory talking heads program), Onion-SPAN (with minute-by-minute coverage of congressional procedure), and Today Now! (a morning show with sickeningly perky hosts--the preview is so perfect in its satire that it had me in stitches). The Onion News Network is irreverent, often offensive, and almost always hilarious. In a brief segment they can pinpoint exactly what is wrong with TV news far more effectively than a thousand editorial essays. Just take a look at this video (contains vulgar language, obviously):

Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters

5. Super Taranta!

I briefly wrote about Gogol Bordello once, and I'm not sure I have anything more to say about it now, except that this riotous album continues to bring no end of joy to my life. It's some of the most wildly energetic music I heard this year, and I highly recommend it.

4. The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 2

The gorgeous, oversized, hardcover, leatherbound collection of Neil Gaiman's Sandman continued this year with the second installment. This is the part where the series really gets good: Season of Mists has always been one of my favorite Sandman story arcs because it reveals the full mythological world that Morpheus inhabits, and is a very entertaining story besides. To me this is where Gaiman really established his voice in the series. But enough about that. The story is old; the packaging is what's new. The improvement in the color reproduction isn't as dramatic with this volume by this point in the series the original production values had improved considerably, but there are still plenty of other incentives: new introductions, scripts, conceptual sketches, and a Sandman story from a Vertigo sampler that has never been reprinted until now. On an even more geeky and anal-retentive note, the Absolute edition prints the occasional stand-alone stories in the order of their original publication, amidst the larger storylines, rather than lumping them all together as in Fables and Reflections.

3. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier

Any time Alan Moore publishes a new comic is cause for celebration, especially when it's an original graphic novel. It's hard to believe, but the greatest writer comic book writer of all time has chosen to publish his life's work almost exclusively in monthly installments that are later collected in trade paperback form. Depending on your reckoning, the Black Dossier is only the third or fourth work that could truly be called an original graphic novel (although, given its content, I think the term multi-genre novel may be more appropriate in this case). I recently finished writing a more complete review of the Black Dossier, which you can read here.

2. Ratatouille

Ratatouille proves once again that Brad Bird is one of the best directors working in animation today. This movie had me grinning from beginning to end. It's a very sweet story that has the boldness to go against the trend of sharp-tongued pop-culture-reference laden computer-animated films that dominate theaters today. It is a timeless story with an innocently romantic view of Paris that recalls 101 Dalmations and Lady and the Tramp (back when Disney made good movies). Ratatouille is almost flawless in every detail, and the ending absolutely melts my heart. I was beaming with happiness all the way home from the theater.

1. In Rainbows

Radiohead's latest album drew plenty of press this year for its revolutionary business model that allowed consumers to download the music for whatever price they saw fit to pay--including nil. It was a particularly exciting announcement given that Radiohead had given no clues to their fans that a new album was even finished until a week before it was to be made available. This event alone would probably be enough to land the album on my top ten of the year, but on top of that In Rainbows is simply a great album. Radiohead continues to blend electronic and organic rock, but this one is a little more subtle than their previous releases. The band holds back a little on the arrangements and lets the songs stand on their own. I've been a fan of Radiohead since Pablo Honey came out and while the band's sound has gone through multiple evolutions and my own taste in music has changed considerably, every new album the band records re-establishes their place as my all-time favorite band. Whether they're reinventing rock and roll or the way music is distributed Radiohead consistently blazes a trail for others to follow.

Honorable Mention
I normally can't get to all the things I want to see, read, or hear in the same year they are released, and I reserve this space for things I expect I'll enjoy and probably would have made it on the list, time and money permitting.

This year I actually did pretty well. I got a lot of money for my birthday and went on an online shopping spree in November to get lots of comics that were released this year. I was also able to get friends and family to babysit so I could make it out to the theater a few times. Still, there is one thing I'm very disappointed I didn't get to see:

No Country for Old Men
A new release by my all-time favorite filmmakers that has been hailed by many critics as the best movie of the year? You can bet it would have been on near the top of my list. As much as it pains me, I'm going to have to wait for the DVD on this one because I'm returning to Kirksville tomorrow and there's no chance of it coming to the theater there.

Digg - The coolest animated .GIF tiled background perhaps ever

So I've been seeing people talking all morning about the background image Luis has been using for the past year. It's the hot new thing. It has almost 4,000 diggs. I guess Luis has affirmed his status as a pioneer of cool.

I saw Juno in the theaters this week. It was great. I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more.

In discussion Juno is often paired with Knocked Up as two films that feature female characters who, faced with unwanted pregnancies, opt to either keep the baby or give it up for adoption. One thing I've heard a lot is that these movies are unusual for combining edgy and often crass humor with conservative views on reproduction. I'm not sure I entirely agree: I think this categorization fails to take into account our secular culture's real attitude toward abortion.

When I met my wife she was an outspokenly liberal pro-choice feminist. It's one of the many qualities that attracted me to her. I had been raised in a conservatively religious household, and even though my political views radically shifted as I grew older my opinions on abortion remained pretty much the same.

When Erika and I started dating we had some interesting debates. From the beginning Erika made it clear that she did not approve of abortion and would never choose to have one herself, but she thought it should be an individual choice. It was a revelation to me. Raised as I was in a conservative environment I had never had such a conversation in which I truly listened to what pro-choice people believe. Erika eventually became more pro-life (though still a staunchly liberal feminist, praise God), but I think her views on the actual act of abortion changed little. It went from an ugly practice that ought to be safe and legal to an ugly practice that should be illegal.

I think Erika's attitude when I met her is pretty common among pro-choice individuals, and I think it is evident in our culture. We were watching Sex and the City one night and one of the women in the show revealed that she has had multiple abortions. The other characters were aghast. Remember that his is a show that has probably the most open attitude toward sex of any show on television (at least the non-pay channels) and the characters were horrified at the idea of a woman having multiple abortions. I think that speaks volumes about the real attitudes that people have toward abortion--even those who speak up for a woman's right to choose.

It should not be surprising, then, when edgy comedies feature characters who choose not to abort their unplanned pregnancies. Despite what political pundits may say, we as a culture value life--all of us. And I think that if the abortion debate is to go anywhere we need to realize this. We might be surprised at what we can do if we start out on common ground.

Danny's Blog Cabin - b2evolution version 2

Danny writes about the new version of b2e that is coming soon to brendoman.com. There are some great new features coming. I tried out the new admin interface and I really dig it. The new widgets feature is something I'm looking forward to as well as Danny's work including jQuery, which is something I've been wanting to get into for awhile. He also has a request for any brendoman.com authors who aren't too attached to their custom skin:

I'm really looking forward to getting brendoman.com on this new version. Once I finish upgrading all the plugins, I'll have to deal with skins. The skinning api changed more than anything, so upgrading old skins will be time-consuming. If any of the hostees want to volunteer to switch to a skin that already works for version 2, that would speed up the process.

Thanks again Danny for all your hard work you do for the site!

Mr. X, Vol. 1 by Dean Motter

Development releases of b2evolution version 2 have been coming out since September. I've watched the new features and waited for things to stabilize a bit before upgrading the brendoman.com install. Version 2.3.0 should be out in a day or two and it's being labeled a release candidate. I've upgraded most of my plugins to work with the 2.x series, so the main obstacle now is upgrading all of the brendoman.com skins. What's new in version 2?

In addition to all the bugfixes and subtle improvements that come with new versions of most software, this update has some notable features.

New admin interface

Francois was working on the new admin skin during his US trip this summer, so I got a sneak peak at it. I think it's really beautiful. One of the things that drew me to b2evolution originally was the very attractive admin interface, and the new version continues that tradition. Don't take my word for it, check out the demo.

Toolbar

While you're there, take a look at the new toolbar at the top of the page. There are links to the pages that you'll use the most, and this toolbar also displays when you're viewing the blog, too, provided you're logged in.

Widgets

This may be the best feature of the new version and it will be totally unnoticeable to readers. In old versions, when a blog admin installed a new plugin, they would have to edit the php files that make up their skin in order to have the plugin display something. With widgets, you install the plugin, click a link to add the widget and it's on your site. No php knowledge required. This is great for any admin, but especially for multi-user sites like ours. Now when a user wants to change up their sidebar, they can do it themselves. And if they switch skins, their sidebar goes with them. It's also nice for plugin developers because we can trim a few steps off of our install instructions.

jQuery

Here's one that may only matter to developers. b2evolution now ships with the jQuery javascript library (actually it has since 1.10). This will help us add features that make b2evolution faster and easier to use. The very small number of changes that I've made to the core were centered around this feature.

Improved urls

b2evolution has always had clean urls for posts, but this release adds them for categories, too. Instead of yoursite.com/?cat=123 you can have yoursite.com/category_name. There are more choices for post urls, including /post_title, /category_name/post_title and /2007/12/27/post_title (the old default).

SEO

This doesn't matter much to me, but if search engine placement is very important to you, you'll be happy to see that you can choose from among 5 SEO expert recommended settings or you can tweak the SEO settings yourself.

Photoblog

For several months now, Francois has been adding features to make it easier to post photographs. That now includes image resizing and skin dedicated to displaying photos.

I'm really looking forward to getting brendoman.com on this new version. Once I finish upgrading all the plugins, I'll have to deal with skins. The skinning api changed more than anything, so upgrading old skins will be time-consuming. If any of the hostees want to volunteer to switch to a skin that already works for version 2, that would speed up the process.

Congratulations to the developers on this new release. If you run your own b2evolution install, be sure to give it a look. You can find 2.x-ready plugins here and here.

Sorry I've been MIA for a week. As it turned out, things got busy, and the computer was the last thing on my mind. So, what have I been up to??

Well, last Thursday, I spent the day wrapping gifts, going to see Shoot 'Em Up at the cheap theater, jogging around the Creek Park, and spending time with family (the AZ fam was in town) and baking yet another cheesecake.

Friday, I can't remember what I did in the morning, but I remember getting up early. In the afternoon I went over to Ric's parents' house to spend time with the family. We played Wii, watched Mr. Bean, and entertained the kiddies all afternoon. We had a great turkey dinner and opened gifts. I scored in the DVD department this year, receiving about 8 items from my wish list. Ric's brother and I put our heads together to make him a custom Harvey Birdman office inspirational poster, with our hippo friend "Reaching for That Thing" - which can be seen in the Sebben and Sebben employee orientation episode. I thought it came out beautifully, and Ric was very surprised!

Saturday Ric's AZ family was gone, but we were off to Palmdale to visit his grandparents, to spend time with them and Ric's aunt and uncle. We left around 10am and got back after 10pm. It was a long day, but it was good to see the family. My highlight was when Grandpa sang a few morbid English nursery rhymes from his childhood, which I encouraged him to record so that we could preserve them.

Sunday, Ric was tired from his crazy week, so I went to church by myself. My sister and I went out to eat (yummy crepes in Brea), and to see Atonement. Afterwards, we changed and went walking. When I came home, Ric had transformed the whole house, moving all our boxes to the office, since the office was mostly empty. He wanted me to give me a Christmas that was box-free. Awwww. Ric and I went out that night to see Walk Hard.

Monday, I spent the whole morning wrapping gifts again, then went jogging at the track. I was so inspired by Ric's box-moving that I bought a small Christmas tree to make the living room look more homey. I got carried away and re-arranged all of the furniture in the living room, and he came home to a place that looks more like we live in it, complete with a tree and wrapped gifts. We went to my parents' house, had our yummy enchilada dinner, opened gifts, ate homemade sweets, and played Wii and board games until it was time to hit the Christmas Eve service at church. We rang in Christmas at midnight at church, and we were all pretty much on a sugar-low by then, so we were all ready for some sleep.

Christmas Day, I got up and went walking around Creek Park, then Ric joined me and we drove his parents to LAX. Ric went home to rest while I went to my parents' place, and we all had a traditional dinner there. We played board games and Wii again. It was a little bit anticlimactic, but much better than last year's Christmas, with zero activities planned. Oh, and from my family I received even more DVDs. My personal DVD count for this year (not including multiple discs in box sets) is 15! I did receive a few other non-DVD items. Fun things from Jenny's time in Japan, a car-washing helper so my back doesn't kill me from Ric, a professional kitchen knife from Ric, my Martha Stewart measuring cups and spoons and a couple of utensils from my mom and grandma, and the usual cash from dad.

Today I've spent the day cleaning, folding laundry, catching up with 160 posts on my blog reader, entering receipts into the computer from the past two months, and organizing. I had plans to do much more, but decided I could do with a bit of rest, since Ric and I are headed to a Kings game tonight! That's right, this year I got him 5 pairs of tickets to Kings games, which also came with an autographed photo of one of the players, as well as two passes to Universal Studios. He was very happy with his gift. :)

Next up: tons of movies! I need to see Juno with Ric, Sweeney Todd, Across the Universe (cheap), American Gangster (cheap, and only because it has received award nominations), Water Horse, and maybe Charlie Wilson's war, if there's nothing else to see. I still haven't seen Enchanted, but there are so many others to see that it may have to wait for the cheap theater, and I'm interested in the AvP Resurrection, but probably not enough to pay full price for that one either. And I'm still waiting for my Daniel Day-Lewis to come to a theater near me! All that, not to mention everything I've got from Netflix and the 15 DVDs I've received, will keep me busy. Oh, and I'm listening to The Secret Garden and reading Atlas Shrugged when I've got the time. And to think I thought I'd be bored this week..

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

De Stijl by The White Stripes

Eternals by Neil Gaiman

The Cartoon History of the Modern World Part 1: From Columbus to the U.S. Constitution by Larry Gonick

YouTube - 'There Will Be Blood' to Sneak Into 14 Cities on Dec. 29

Paul Thomas Anderson's amazing new movie, There Will Be Blood opened today in New York and L.A. but if you don't live there you'll have to wait a bit to see it. If you live in 14 cities listed at the official site you can buy tickets to a midnight screening on the 29th. After careful consideration I think I'm going to put this one down for my pick as best of 2007, slightly ahead of Juno and No Country For Old Men. I highly recommend you check it out when you get the chance.

I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert

Beautiful Katamari

YouTube - Stop Loss (2008) Movie Preview

I saw this trailer in front of Sweeney Todd last night, thought it really hit home.

I wonder if it's any good. Sweeney Todd was good. I had listened to the music before but haven't seen the actual musical. I thought Johnny Depp did a fantastic job and Sacha Baron Cohen really stole the show with his small part. I also saw Walk Hard, which I enjoyed. I agreed with my brother that that is was "silly funny" and not really "lol funny" but that doesn't mean it wasn't a good effort. As a parody it was very clever and well done. Also, just about every good comedic actor and actress has a part in the film so keep your eyes open. Jack White as Elvis was definitely my favorite cameo.

Hope you all had a great Christmas!

I'm ready to scream right now. My cable has been out since Thursday night. First they told me it was cable box and the lady told me to bring it in on Saturday. The place was closed on Saturday. So I called to tell them that and also that it wasn't just my cable box but that all the cable was out in the house. They then told me they would send someone on Monday (today). So this morning I got a call saying my appointment window was from 9AM to 7PM. WTF??? So I called to see if I could get a more accurate time window. This time the lady asked me for my account number which I couldn't find and they had never asked for before. When I couldn't find my account number I asked why they were asking this since they usually just ask for my phone number and last four digits of my social. She said it was for security reasons. Security reasons since yesterday when I last called? She wasn't sure so I asked to speak to someone else. She then freaking disconnected me and I had to call again. So I finally talk to a sane person who knew what they were doing and said that they couldn't give me a more accurate time window but that someone would be there today and would call a half hour before. So I'm confined to my house instead of doing something fun like go to a movie or hang out with friends or what not. It gets to be 6 PM and no one has called. I call and see what the deal is and they tell me I was never on the schedule today and it was a misunderstanding. Now someone is coming on Wednesday and I'll probably have to take off work for a little bit since the window is once again 9 AM to 7 PM. This is seriously the worst customer service I have ever received. I have received incorrect information from at least three people. I still don't have cable. My Christmas Eve sucked ass. Thanks Time Warner.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Sorry I'm a bit behind in this but I just got Beautiful Katamari for 360 and I'm hopelessly addicted. This is the first of what is looking to be at least 4 installments of an epic podcast. In this edition, Honzo, Danny, Gringo, and I discuss many things, including Gringo's graduation from Central and his deployment to Iraq. As always, there's some language, but not too much. Probably NSFW though.

Download Part 1

The rest are coming soon. Enjoy.

Sorry, I've been focusing most of my efforts on finding a new roommate. Wednesday was also Phil's 29th birthday and I went to his place and last night I had some friends over to play Super Nintendo. As of 5 PM I will be free until Wednesday morning so I will definitely get the podcast out. I also rented Halo 3 so I'll most likely be on Live quite a bit.

Once

The Simpsons Movie (Widescreen Edition)

YouTube - Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Official Trailer

The latest from the Apatow clan looks good. It's nice to see Jason Segal in a starring role and you can't go wrong with Kristen Bell.

26

Looking for x-ray technician training?

Today (Thursday, the 20th) is Lucas' birthday! A mere 23 years old, again. It is amazing how many times a person can turn 23. This is Lucas' 5th time celebrating his 23rd birthday. Here's to many more 23rds!

~Kelly

YouTube - Duke Nukem Forever Teaser 19/12/07

As expected, that was pretty anticlimactic. I doubt that's gameplay footage and I'm betting by the time they finish the Half-Life 2 engine will look pretty dated. Remember when this game was supposed to use the Quake engine?

Microsoft Scores $500 Million Online Ad Deal with Viacom

Microsoft has won a major content and advertising partnership with Viacom, to the tune of $500 million over five years. The major deal points are that Viacom will use Microsoft Atlas (the byproduct of the aQuantive acquisition) for managing ads on its web sites, while the software company will license Viacom content (MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Pictures, etc.) for various Microsoft products including MSN and Xbox 360.

Does anyone still believe the producers when they say there is no money being made on the internet?

When Ryan and Amy saw Rescue Dawn, it reminded me that I had planned to watch Little Dieter Needs to Fly right after I saw Rescue Dawn (apparently I forgot about it). So, my handy-dandy Watch Now feature on Netflix provided me with a couple of lunches with Dieter Dengler, a German born man who was inspired by the pilots of WWII and came to America to join the armed forces and learn to fly. Rescue Dawn is basically a dramatized version of Dieter's real-life story of being captured and held prisoner in Laos at the early stages of the Vietnam war. Little Dieter Needs to Fly is a documentary, which was made ten years earlier, about the same story.

Both movies are directed by Werner Herzog; this is only the second of his movies that I have seen, but I have enjoyed his documentary style immensely. Herzog tends to be heavily involved with his subjects, providing narration and even appearing on the screen, which is something I haven't seen very often in documentaries. It reminds me of how, towards the last of the Up series, we are allowed to hear more interaction between the documentary subjects and the documentarian, Michael Apted. I like hearing that connection, and hearing the documentarian make a more personal connection to what he is documenting.

What's interesting about Little Dieter Needs to Fly is that we aren't simply told a story in the style of the History Channel, with stock footage, a few photographs, and a few interviews conducted in a studio. Instead, Herzog takes Dieter back to Laos, where he tells his story while reenacting it. When Dieter walks through the jungle, telling about how his captors took him to their camp, Herzog uses locals to portray Dieter's captors, who actually tie his hands and shuffle him through the dense plant life. As a result, Dieter actually gets uncomfortable, because the situation is a little bit too real. We get an insight into how, though time has passed, the experience is still vivid in his memory. Some may find this a bit manipulative on Herzog's part, but I seemed to get the impression that he's simply trying to explore a story in a different way, and that method really does offer so much more than a static documentary.

Dieter's reenactment of his captivity and escape also shows how much attention to detail Herzog used when making Rescue Dawn. One can't learn much from the documentary about Gene, the fellow prisoner whose portrayal in Rescue Dawn created quite a lot of controversy. But one can see that the details of how Dieter's hands were bound, or how he shared the sole of a shoe with Duane, were part of what made Rescue Dawn an effective movie.

Dieter is often able to tell his story with ease, even though it was such a traumatic experience. Seeing the pictures of how he looked after his imprisonment, escape, and rescue really made a big impact on me, and, just as the end to Rescue Dawn seemed a tiny bit cheesy, it was real, and in both movies Herzog was able to capture the emotion of the scene wonderfully (perhaps just because it was such a great story).

Ten years apart in time, I think Little Dieter and Rescue Dawn are great companion pieces as well as individual efforts. They are connected by director and story, but are both successful movie experiences on different levels. I think Little Dieter provides a more human element for me, because Rescue Dawn focuses on the physical actions more than Dieter's actual personality. But Rescue Dawn is great as a testimony to the human spirit and the will to survive. I really liked watching both of these and comparing them with each other. If you have seen one and not the other, I'd definitely recommend renting the one you haven't seen - there are so many sides to a single story, and so many ways to tell them. I thought Herzog did something very interesting by tackling Dieter Dengler's story in two very different ways, and did a wonderful job with both.

Why 2008 Will Be An Awesome Year For Movies « FirstShowing.net

While I've been rather pleased with 2007's movies, especially in the last couple months, I'm eagerly awaiting next year. This is a good list of things to look for.

The Cartoon History of the Universe III: From the Rise of Arabia to the Renaissance by Larry Gonick

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (an organization committed to defending the first amendment rights of comic creators) is selling autographed artwork and books to raise money. Most of it is surprisingly cheap. There are several things I'll consider buying as soon as I have a little extra scratch (provided these don't sell out by then):

10th Anniversary Dark Knight Poster: $20
Daredevil Lithograph signed by Frank Miller: $40
Miracleman print signed by Gary Leach: $25! (I can't imagine that one will last long)
Big Guy and Rusty the Robot signed by Frank Miller: $25 (I've been wanting to get my hands on this anyway)

...plus a bunch more comics I already own but wish I didn't so I could justify buying a signed copy.

And the money goes to a worthy cause. If you like comics check out the other fine products for sale.

Wow, what the hell is going on? First The Hobbit and now this? I'm still highly skeptical, I mean, it's been over 10 years since we first heard about Duke Nukem Forever. But according to 3D Realms, we'll see a teaser featuring video of the game tomorrow. Stay tuned. Oh, and yes, that is a real screenshot from said teaser.

EW has a very informative interview with MGM CEO Harry Sloan. Here's some choice quotes:

Can you tease us with who might be in line to direct? Guillermo Del Toro, Sam Raimi...

Well, those are the names that have been mentioned and they’re both top directors, excellent directors. It’s Peter’s project. Peter and Bob Shaye are going to oversee it creatively but in the end ... our choice had always been Peter. But if after he and Fran [Walsh, Jackson's wife] and whoever they work with develop the script, if Peter feels comfortable and Bob feels comfortable with another director, then there will be another director.

Is there any chance that Peter could direct the Hobbit sequel?

Well, he could direct either of them.

He’s been busy with The Lovely Bones, so has it been a scheduling thing?

Well, he’s got Lovely Bones, he’s got Tin Tin, he’s got two or three projects, but it is the right time for him to devote his intentions to developing the property and the script with himself and Fran and maybe other writers as well. And once the property is developed and there’s a picture that’s ready to go, he may consider directing it -- although the second film might be more likely due to scheduling.

I think it's very reasonable to believe that Jackson will direct one of the movies. I'd love to see either Del Toro or Raimi on board as well. After Pan's Labyrinth I would probably lean towards Del Toro. Many folks seem to believe that since Jackson is signed on to produce that he won't be writing or directing the movies and that doesn't really make sense to me. Since they haven't started any kind of production yet, they haven't made those decisions but I would be very surprised if Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens didn't write the scripts or at least have a hand in it. We'll see what happens as more information comes. These films are still at least a few years away.

Wow. Now I know why the shuffle button is so awesome on media players. I unclicked it on iTunes to check out my Christmas collection in order, and right about now, the Carpenters are one step from the recycle bin. But I think I'll just re-shuffle everything, and then I can handle the Carpenters, one song at a time.

Well, the weekend was pretty quiet, if you compare it with the rest of December. Friday night Ric and I went out to eat at Ruby's and just hung out at home. I played a lot of Super Paper Mario. Love that game.

Saturday, I got up to work out with Ruth at the track. The track was covered in frost, which made us question our decision to work out a 7am, but we did anyway. I went home and fell asleep for another five hours. While I did laundry at my parents' place, I made the rice krispy peanut butter cookie candy for my mom to bring to the office Christmas party on Monday. When through with that, I met up with Ric at home and we went to the local pizza place to have dinner and watch the Kings game. When we came back I was feeling tired and fell asleep watching the last part of the game with Ric. Slept for 12 hours. Wohoo!

Sunday we found out right before church that our satellite service is getting shut down because there's more demand for Sunday school groups than for our little service (and population is down a little, so they have room for everyone in the worship center now). So that was the end to Ric's coffee ministry, and next week Emily will have to start going to the nursery since she's a bit too fidgety for the big service. Liz missed church, so we met up with her for lunch and we all talked about anything and everything for a couple of hours. On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store for a few supplies, then spent the afternoon making the green bean casserole for the office Christmas party. I finished just in time to head back to my parents' place, where we met up and drove out to El Torito for dinner, then came back and had pie while dad opened birthday gifts. He's now got a pretty nice tv. Back at home I got back on the Super Paper Mario and caught up with Ric's progress. As of yesterday, I'm ahead of him, and I think I'm getting close to finishing the game, but it's getting more difficult, so I'm not sure if I'll finish this week.

This week in my life: yesterday we had the office Christmas party, which was fun. Our hush-hush project, which involved a lot of video footage and pranks throughout last week, was revealed and we all got copies of our movie on DVD. I need to figure out how to get this up online where you guys can check it out. I know it's probably only funny to those who work here, but it gives you an idea of why I like where I work. Tonight, Judi's in town (one of my bridesmaids and a friend from college and church), so we're meeting up for dinner in Fullerton. Tomorrow, I'm wrapping gifts and finishing Christmas cards. Thursday, I'm taking the day off. I might be going to a funeral service for a friend of mine from high school who passed away during surgery, but right now I'm feeling a bit chicken about it because I haven't been involved in his life in about eight years. That night the brother-in-law's family is in town, so I'm hanging out with Angie and the babes while Ric and Jon go out to see Van Halen. Friday is Ric's side of the family's Christmas celebration.

Somewhere in there I need to try to see American Gangster at the cheap theater. I'll never pay more than $2 for a Denzel movie. But it got nominated for awards, so now I feel obligated to check it out, even though I suspect I won't like it.