Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Of course you're going to vote Obama...

...because he inspires hope.
...because he has grace.
...because he doesn't polarize—Conservatives will never vote for Clinton, but they just might vote for Obama.
...because he's the first viable candidate not to have lived through WWII, Viet Nam or Korea.
...because he's eloquent.
...because he's affable.
...because he has integrity.
...because he'll tell you the truth without spinning it.
...because he's the guy you'd want to be sitting across the table with America's most intractable opponents.
...because it's not about experience—it's about good judgement (they said Cheney had experience and look how that turned out.)
...because he has an excellent chance of getting into the White House (i.e. he's not Ralph Nader, Ross Perot, Fred Thompson, etc.)
...because he's popular for a reason. (see above)

...because he's a clean slate, an opportunity to walk away from the past, to forge a fresh, new path.

It's not about skin color, or gender—it's about hope.

You're going to vote for Obama because he stirs something inside you:
...unity
...hope
...civic duty
...tolerance
...compassion

...and perhaps even patriotism, too.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Oh My God

Ha! I finally found an embed link to John Bryant's macabre short Oh My God, which I mentioned over a year ago. Some people don't find it funny at all, which has always puzzled me... anyone should be able to pick up from the film's silly credits that it's not meant to be taken seriously.

Remember, this is extremely dark humor. You have been warned!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

CLOVERFIELD: Mini-review

Given my mouthy publicity of Cloverfield, a film I had not yet seen, a lot of people have been after me to review it. While I'd love to write a more comprehensive review, I can't at this moment. What I will say is this:

Go see it.

It's worth all the money I paid to see it... and I'm going to see it again this week. Sure, it has flaws tied mostly to the medium of shooting an entire film from a consumer's video camera. I certainly wouldn't see in the front 10 rows and if I got motion sickness easily... well, I'd think twice about going. But overall, it's a thrill ride not to be missed.

And if you can see it on a Digital Light Projector, even better.

Watch this space for a longer review.

Post Scriptum: Opening weekend gross so far is $41 million—it cost $25 million.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Slusho Pics—You can't drink just six!

For those who missed my last post, CLOVERFIELD: Marketing the American Godzilla, go read it now. If you're in a hurry, skip to the bottom of the post to read the bit about Slusho.

I said pics were coming and I wasn't lying: this week I received my Slusho hat and T-shirt. Because I know no bounds of geekdom, I held my wife at gunpoint to take pictures of me opening the Slusho box. Oh, the joy!

You'll note that some of the stuffing inside the box is Japanese newspaper... there's some speculation that the newspaper is yet one more clue about Cloverfield's storyline, but nobody knows for sure...



Cloverfield opens nationwide in theatres tomorrow. I'll be going to the 9:20 PM showing which is the closest match to New York City's 12:03 AM EST, which is when the story is meant to occur. [Actually, it just hit me that I'm late by a day—12:03AM on 1/18/08 happened about 4 hours ago, but whatever!] Thankfully, they'll be showing Cloverfield on the pristine Digital Light Projector, the best medium possible to show Hi-Def video.

Anyway, if you're still on the fence about seeing it, consider that it's produced by Alias and Lost co-creator, J. J. Abrams. His marketing pitch was something like, "Give me one $1500 camera, a bunch of no name actors, and $25 million—I'll put all my money into the CGI and make a killer monster movie."

Oh, hell yeah.

I may even order a slushy just to get myself in the mood.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Global Photolinking

After watching the amazing animé Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, I think it was Naresh who remarked, "They tout this as cutting edge technology, but the fact is that real cutting edge technology is being used right now... we just won't see it for a couple of years."

Prepare yourself to witness Sea Dragon & Photosynth, one of the most impressive technological developments of the 21st century. Its implications on global communication and networking are staggering... in fact, once bandwidth limitations become moot, I think this kind of user interface will dominate the internet.

Front Yard

Most kids had green grass, a big tree and stickball. I had a skyscraper balcony with a view of the East River.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Best of the Web—22 sites

I don't mean these are the best ever, but they are the sites I use the most. If you visit a site frequently, add it in the comments!

Best search engine: Google
Best way to find free stuff locally: Craigslist
Best all-around news: CNN
Best movie ratings: Rotten Tomatoes
Best way to find a local service or place to eat: Yahoo Yellow Pages
Best movie database: The Internet Movie Data Base
Best movie rental service: Netflix
Best encyclopedia: Wikipedia
Best bookseller: Amazon
Best discount bookseller Half.com
Best video fix: Videosift
Most entertaining blog: Oopsie Daisy
Best screenwriting blog: Johnaugust.com
Best newsreader: Google Reader
Best dictionary: Merriam Webster
Best way to get directions: Yahoo Maps
Best way to remember something: Oh, Don't Forget
Best photo gallery for mac users: Picassa
Best gossip: The Superficial
Best way to send money: Paypal
Best way to read the classics: The Daily Lit
Best Mac utility for getting things done: Taskpaper