A Tale Of Two Kitties Trailer

Here it is. Watch it if you dare. Garfield goes to England, royal cat twin, blah blah blah.

Long-Awaited Soundtrack Alert

The Elmer Bernstein score for Ghostbusters is finally available through Varese Sarabande Records. Bootlegs have been flourishing for the twenty-two years since the film's release, but now you can own it nice and legal-like. Don't wait too long, though - it's a limited edtion of only 3000 copies!

Please

Just one more great Terry Gilliam movie. I'll be good. Well, mostly.

PS - Looks like other bloggers are wishing, too...but for a U.S. distributor, which apparently Tideland doesn't have yet. Did The Brothers Grimm do well? Will it encourage anyone to pick up Gilliam's latest? Stay tuned.

Jon's Still Not Getting It

...and Garfield is powerless to help him.

My Drawing In TV Guide

My drawings were small. It's TV Guide that got big.

PS - It just occurred to me that you might think I created this in Photoshop, which I guess would be easy enough to do. Hopefully, there's enough artifacts in it to prove to you that it's a scan.

Where Are You

...in the Geek Hierarchy?

Or, use the short form:

Silly, Silly Sony

SONY TO RELEASE HI-DEF MOVIES -- WITH NO PLAYERS

In an announcement that left many analysts scratching their heads, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment President Benjamin Feingold announced Wednesday that the company will release its first batch of movies on high-definition Blu-ray discs on May 23 -- even though no players will be available at that time on which to play them. Sony has indicated that the first players may not be available until November. In an interview with Home Media Retailing, Feingold said, "We realize there may be some delays
on the hardware side, but we are going to honor our commitment to release movies when we said we would." Questions immediately arose concerning what retailers will do with the disks when they receive them. Said Feingold: "There are two schools of thought: A dealer could have them for publicity purposes, to prime the market, or we can ship them later, when hardware is on the market. But the important point is, we can meet the date -- that's the key."

Remembering Bart (1989-2005)

We haven't forgotten you, Bart-O-Bart. We still love you so much and think about you all the time. Daddas and Mommas miss you.

A Really, Really Old Drawing

I'm not sure how old I was when I did this - probably just past the double digits. Check it out!

Bright Eyes

I've been thinking about this song a lot, not surprisingly. You can buy it on iTunes, if you're interested in hearing it.





Bright Eyes (Simon/Garfunkel - excerpt)

Bright eyes,
Burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
How can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

Good-Bye, Kitty-Mose

We put Mouszers down yesterday. It was just a little over a year from when I put Bart down, so it brought up unpleasant memories for both of us, to say the least. Mouszers had been suffering from irritable bowel syndrome for almost a year, and it didn't look like she was ever going to get any better. It was especially difficult because (though she suffered from frequent vomiting and diarrhea) outwardly she appeared to be fine. Late in the illness, we wound up shutting her off from the rest of the house in the bedroom, and while she loved company, more and more of the time she was lonely and sad. Unlike Bart, she passed immediately upon receiving the injection, and we took it as a sign that she was ready to go. Take care, wuss-wuss. Mommas and Daddas love you.

If you have a moment, please send Anita a consolation note. She's had Mouszers for twelve years, and naturally is taking this very hard.

Asterix And The Vikings Trailer

Of course, there's been plenty of animated Asterix already, but this film is the first I've seen that looks well-drawn and well-animated! The backgrounds are a little gaudy, but I'd like to see it when a subtitled version becomes available.

Nice

Jon Muses On His Nonexistent Love Life

We've all assumed that Garfield talks, but he doesn't. He thinks to himself. This is what's really happening at Jon's house. Or it would be if he weren't fictional.

Why The Internet Can Be Great

For a lot of people, you say, "internet", and you might conjure up images of a lot of people wringing their hands over online porn and how we should all try harder to keep The Children away from it. But this is what I think of - tons of useless crap that you're still happy to see painstakingly gathered and sorted by someone else. Here's a collection of sound-effect cards from the old Batman TV show. Enjoy these while you wait for the DVD release (there's no plans for it, so you may be waiting quite a while).

A tip of the Bat-cowl to Drawn! for the link.

A Little More Seuss

Here's a super-rough one. I cleaned it up in Photoshop, as usual.

I can't avoid cleaning up my roughs. I tried doing a doodle, and just posting it as it was, but I wound up pulling it. I'm too compulsively tidy to do that!

Jon Blows Dates He Didn't Know He Had

Nathan Jurevicius' New Toys

Mini Tree House, series 2 - another line of twelve interchangable characters, all blind-boxed (like baseball card packs). Collect 'em all for $80.00 at Ningyoushi.com.

Jon Keeps Trying To Connect

...without much success, it would appear.

Farewell, Lettie

Lettie Schubert - In Memoriam

By Alan Cook

Lettie Connell Schubert of Mill Valley, 77, died of cancer on March 21. She was an important figure in American Puppetry in many capacities. She worked with the late Ralph Chesse working marionettes on "BROTHER BUZZ" on Bay Area TV, and had her own TV show as well. Her early puppet work was entwined with Ralph Chesse's (he taught puppetry at SF State U). Lettie directed Oakland's Vagabond Puppet Theater which visited Oakland parks, where she mentored Jerry Juhl, the third person to join the Muppets as puppeteer and script writer, and she also mentored Frank Oz who joined the Muppets after work with Vagabond and graduating from high School.

Bruce Chesse (Ralph's surviving son) describes Lettie as the glue which held the San Francisco Bay Area Guild of Puppetry together in the 1950s and 1960s. She was a force of major importance to San Francisco, California and National puppetry, conducted manipulation workshops, organized regional and national puppetry festivals in the Bay Area, Asilomar and the Los Angeles area and served the national Puppeteers of America, Inc. Lettie follows Perry Dilley and Ralph Chesse in the Bay area in historical sequence.

She is survived by husband Gage, son David and daughter Becky.

Memorial info TBA.

Latest Auction Purchase

I just 'won' this Paul Coker Mad magazine ad that I saw as a kid. This drawing was part of a series of subscription ads called, "Why Kill Yourself?" It went for far less than I expected for a color piece!

Working On My Comic This Weekend

Four pages down, nine to go...

The Archives Are Down

Sorry about the blog archives being inacessible right now. I'll try to figure out how to fix it! Maybe Ms. Kate can once again come to my rescue...

Decisions, Decisions

Cruel, but fair. The comic's from here. Thanks to boingboing.net!

UK Simpsons Spot To Air With US Episode

Read about it here.

Another Second Assistant Editor Needed

Hello everyone! We're looking for a second assistant to start in June. If you know someone who is looking for Second Assistant work and would like a scenery change (which means, move to Portland), please pass this on to whomever you think would be interested. I can be reached at mandres@laika.com.

Cheers!
Margaret Andres


http://www.laika.com/entertainment/

Second Assistant Editor

We are seeking a full time Assistant Editor who will provide Avid Adrenaline support on a PC platform. Candidate must possess strong interpersonal and organizational skills. Ideal applicants must be able to work under pressure while maintaining a consistent eye to detail and assuring the highest level of quality control in their own work.

Responsibilities include:
- Assisting editors
- Digitizing footage
- Import and export deliveries
- Media management
- Engineer scratch dialog sessions
- Create dubs onto multiple formats
- Creating DVDs
- Create and manage media databases
- Maintain sound effects library
- Troubleshoot Avid problems
- Prepare cultists for compositors


Qualifications:
- Must have at least 3 years Avid experience
- Strong working knowledge of Windows and OSX platforms
- Experience working with a variety of tape/DVD decks
- Working knowledge of audio mixers
- A thorough understanding of different video and audio compression techniques
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to prioritize and multi-task
- A self-starter able to work well independently within a dynamic and deadline-oriented environment
- Animation experience is desirable but not necessary
- Feature film experience is a plus

Project 1982 Podcast

Here's the interview I did for Dave Maurer's website, Project 1982. Enjoy!

Music For One Apartment And Six Drummers

Even if they didn't really do this live, I love the fact the film makes it look like they did. Long, but enjoyable.

I Don't Think Ben Is Gonna Show Up

Don't Shoot The Puppy

A sure-fire productivity destroyer. Just click "start" and don't move the mouse. When "start" reappears, you've won the level! If you move the mouse after clicking "Start", you'll shoot the puppy. See how much restraint you can exercise before you crack.

PS - I won the game! Heh, heh.

A Brand-New Drawing Of Hampton

I just did this today for a co-worker. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's appealing, but it feels so much more graphically conservative than the original design drawings. Hmmm. Well, I guess you'll draw a character differently sixteen years later.

One thing I am happier with is my use of the WACOM tablet on this piece. I turned the brush up to 20 or 25 pixels. Next, I need to turn up the (brush) sensitivity so I can get more thick-and-thin going on as well as boldness.

Butter Battle Scientist

Other Geek Tests

You can see how big a geek you are, how big a comic book geek you are, and how big a movie geek you are.
For comparison, I scored 72%, 68%, and 84%, respectively.

Superhero Quiz

Which superhero are you? Find out before Marvel and DC make the term their own.

Snakes On A Plane Logo

Pretty funny! The movie can't be this "good".

Ghostface Killah Gets His Own Action Figure

$500.00 is pricey, even for the collector toy market! Pre-order it here.

For Grins

Here's a promotional piece for UPA that I cleaned up in Photoshop for fun.

Ill-Conceived Department

An animated series featuring Paris and Nicky Hilton, not to mention Paris' dog Tinkerbell (see all of them here). Since you can still see a generous portion of Paris' hindquarters in the concept art, I'm assuming this is going to air off-network, and later at night. Like Cinemax After Dark late.

Seriously, though, what is this going to be about? Shopping, parties and sex? Who's going to want to watch -- oh. Never mind.

Matt And Trey Have Their Revenge

So the moral of the story is: Do. Not. EVER. Piss off Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Or they will eviscerate you for America's amusement, making money in the process. Fighting it will only make you look like an even poorer sport. It's as simple as that.

Reading the premise of the "revenge episode", it's worse than I could've imagined. Much, much worse. Read all about it here, and here. Looks like it's gonna be hilarious!

I hope the stroke isn't true, though.

Unnerved By Giant Devils?

Then this toy probably isn't for you. NECA's released the 21-inch Lord of Darkness figure from the film Legend. You can get it now for $75.00+shipping at Entertainment Earth.

Is It Memorex? Or Is It Live?

Check out the ongoing debate over the veracity of the documentary Unknown White Male and its subject, Doug Bruce. Interesting!

It's Back!

This seven-year-old design is resurrected, thanks to some zippy Illustrator work by Ellen Moon Lee. Celebrate by buying some stuff from my PidgeonStuff store! Look in the "NewStuff" section.

Bing Crosby And The Beatles Don't Mix

Nor does it mix with this odd assortment of co-stars. This clip is from Hollywood Palace, broadcast on October 11, 1969.

Prissy Polly's Pig Pickin' Bar-B-Q On Television

Here's a picture of the restaurant where my sister Deb and her husband Greg work (Greg's dad owns it). Apparently, they're working on a TV spot right now, so if you live near Kernersville, NC - keep your eyes peeled!

Development Art For The Butter Battle Book Special

Here's some more artwork for those who have missed it. Have I written about my Butter Battle escapades yet? I'll have to go back into the archives and check.

Noble Boy Article

Here's a write-up on Scott Morse's latest book, Noble Boy, a biographical sketch/touching tribute of animation legend Maurice Noble. Even if you know nothing about Maurice, the paintings alone are more than worth the money. Go Scott!

A Domestic Afternoon

Here's another high school buddy, Jan Pieter Versweyveld, mowing the lawn with his kids.

More Vinyl Coolness

Here's another great figure called Trace. I forget where I saw it, or how much it costs. More on this guy later.

Okay, I remembered! It's available at My Plastic Heart for $55.00 + shipping.

Our Wizard World Weekend

It was fun, but it didn't come easily at all. I forgot my wallet on the plane, so we had to wait a half an hour to get it back. It took more time to get lunch, but eventually we started out from Burbank to go to Los Angeles. If there was a poorly-marked freeway junction or exit, I picked the wrong one every time. Lots of backtracking!

This year, Wizard World took place at the L.A. Convention Center, so I had to learn a new route (last year's convention was in Long Beach). L.A. proper is similar to San Diego in that it has a lot of one-way streets, making navigation difficult if you haven't been there before (or often, like me). More backtracking. At last, we located and parked at the Sheraton, whose parking structure wasn't easy to figure out either - neither of us could easily figure out where the valet parking ended and the standard parking began!

On top of that, the fellow at Expedia was wrong about how far it was from the hotel to the convention center. I thought it was a block or two. It was eight. Plus, the L.A. Marathon was last Saturday as well, so it wasn't easy to walk over there.

We finally made our way over to the convention center. Hooray! Comic time! Toy time! Well, not quite.

The first thing we saw in the center was a huge Christian revival-style meeting. Huh. Oh! - there's another event further along - that must be it. Nope - that was an organizing area for the marathon. So we kept walking. And walking.

It turns out that the L.A. Convention Center is as big as an airport, and naturally, Wizard World was at the opposite end. I think there were at least five events in the center that day. I'd never run into that before!

Anyway, we had fun at the convention. It was a little small (about the size of this year's WonderCon, maybe a little smaller), and there wasn't much in the way of panels or forums, so we mostly cruised the dealer's room with our friend Dave (it took him even longer to arrive, as he had to park his car - poor guy). This was a big statue weekend for me - I bought a three-maquette set of characters from the new Krypto animated TV show, as well as a couple of silver age X-Men statues that I got for cheap. Of course, I'll probably spend all the money I saved trying to get the whole team, as a couple of the figures are pretty rare. I ran into Stephen Silver, and got to say hello and peruse his beautiful artwork. I'll have to see if he does commissions!

We also got together for dinner with the Johnson family on Saturday night, so that was very nice. Victoria prepared a chicken curry that was quite tasty, and we topped off the evening with a few rounds of Apples To Apples. Fun, but I couldn't play to save my life! Dave was there, too.

We got together with him again to look over the convention more on Sunday, since we hadn't finished the day before. After lunch, we sneaked into the center's empty theater and recorded an interview with him for his podcast (I'll let you know when it's online, so can listen to it if you want). It was getting late, so we headed out for the airport.

Traffic was heavy, so we didn't make it back for the departure time. Fortunately, our flight was delayed, so we made it anyway. Phew! At least our wonky travel karma didn't extend to car accidents or plane schedules.

Well, we're back now, so I guess the lesson is that traffic is temporary, and toys last a lot longer!

Cool New Vinyl Figure

The character's name is Buzz Carney, but I don't know yet who designed it. Looks great, though! You can get one for $84.95 at KidRobot.

Snakes On A Plane T-Shirts

Why are people so fixated on this? Why am I so fixated on this?!
Anyway. You can buy the first design here, the second one here.

More Disappointment On The Way

From The UK's Guardian: Lucas plans Star Wars TV spin-off

Staff and agencies
Thursday March 16, 2006

And you thought the Star Wars saga finished with Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Wrong you were, my youngling friend.

George Lucas and his team are currently hard at work on a Star Wars live-action TV series. It will be set between the end of Revenge of the Sith and the beginning of Episode IV: A New Hope. The plot would centre on Luke Skywalker's early years growing up on Tatooine.

Yesterday, producer Rick McCallum announced the tale would be spun over at least 100 hours. "Hopefully if we can make it work and everybody's excited and watches it, we will keep on going," McCallum told BBC Radio 1. A writing team will start sweating on a script soon, with filming scheduled to begin in 2008 for transmission later the same year.
McCallum said there would be "a whole bunch of new characters" and the series would be "much more dramatic and darker". The actors from the films are not expected to take up their roles again.

The live-action TV series is not the only spin-off in the offing. Last year, at a Star Wars fans' convention in Indianapolis, Lucas also said he was preparing a 3D animated TV series called Clone Wars, about the battle led by Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and other Jedi knights against the army of the Republic at the end of Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Clone Wars is based on an existing animated series, made up of five-minute episodes, broadcast on the Cartoon Network TV channel. It is set to be ready next year.

Before work on the live-action TV series can begin, Lucas needs to work on his long-cherished project Red Tails, a drama about African-American pilots in the second world war. He has also just approved the script to Indiana Jones 4, which will see the return of Harrison Ford at the whip and Steven Spielberg in the director's chair.

I don't really care about the rest of it, but I am a little curious about the long-gestating Red Tails project. I thought this might've gotten scuttled after the similarly-themed Laurence Fishburne TV movie that came out a while back. Unfortunately, most of those twenty-year-old projects haven't ended well. We'll have to wait and see - hopefully, we'll at least get a Tucker-level film out of it.

A Little More Finished Art From Fetch

Here's a new panel. The story's only thirteen pages, so I don't want to post too many drawings, or there won't be any surprise left!

Snakes On A Plane Website

This just won't quit! Or maybe I won't.

Jon's Doing It Again

Now he's taking his cat out to dinner. Sad.

Anita & I -- Wizard World Los Angeles

Here's a shot of the two of us at this weekend's convention! We had a lot of fun, but it was a hectic couple of days! More about that tomorrow...stay tuned...

I'm Off To Wizard World!

See you soon...

Japan's Answer To The Banana Splits

Weird! I've never seen an episode of this before, but it turns out I have a toy of the red octopus at home.

Comedy Central Pulls Repeat Of South Park's Scientology Episode

A great response from the guys! It's all pretty funny, as I'm sure it'll be included on the appropriate DVD set anyway.

Inside Move: 'South Park' feeling some celeb heat?
Cable net abruptly pulls repeat of Scientology episode
By MICHAEL FLEMING

The battle between "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Scientology is escalating.
The dust-up gained steam last week when Isaac Hayes, a practicing Scientologist who has long been the voice of the character Chef, quit after objecting to a "South Park" episode called "Trapped in the Closet," which lampooned both the religion and Tom Cruise.

The skirmish continued this week, when Comedy Central abruptly pulled a repeat of that episode that was scheduled to air Wednesday evening. Showing instead was another memorable seg which featured Hayes's character, called "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls."

Blog reports pegged the mysterious episode switch to objections raised by Cruise, who, the reports stated, threatened to not promote "Mission: Impossible 3," the summer tentpole for Viacom-owned Paramount.

A spokesman for Cruise denied that Cruise had ever made such a threat. "He never said any such thing about 'Mission: Impossible 3," the spokesman said.

While the "South Park" creators didn't directly comment on Comedy Central's decision to pull the episode, they issued an unusual statement to Daily Variety indicating the battle is not over.

"So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun! Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!"

The duo signed the statement "Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu."

Date in print: Fri., Mar. 17, 2006, Los Angeles

Snakes On A Plane Trailer

Truth in advertising at work. Take a look!

Speaking Of Garfield...

...here we go again. Or 'not go' again, as the case may be.

Garfield Comedy Theory

Lakini Malich discovered that if you remove Garfield's dialogue, it changes the tone of the strip entirely:

An interesting thing...if you remove Garfield's thought balloons, it goes from an unfunny comic to a rather sad, poignant story about a lonely man who has wasted his life talking to his cat.

I think it's much funnier this way, personally!

Remember Jot?

He was the hero of a series of shorts produced by the Southern Baptists. I saw one or two of them on TV when I was little, and managed to buy a cel/bg set-up from The Deep Archives. The music is treacly, and the tone is creepy and guilt-wracked, but the design and animation are imaginative and quite nice. Check 'em out!

Thanks to Nate Pacheco for posting them!

Snakes On A Plane

An excerpt from a Premiere magazine interview with Samuel Jackson:

Q: Which brings us to your upcoming sensitive human drama, Snakes on a Plane, for which you lobbied the producers to stick with the title rather than change it to Pacific Air Flight 121.

A: They had already changed the title when I got to Canada to start shooting. I let it go for a while. Then one day all the producers were standing there, and I'm saying, "So are you seriously going to leave this name like this?" And they're going, "Yeah, we don't want to give too much away to the audience." I'm like, "Yeah you do. That's the way you get them in here. Nobody wants to see Pacific Air Flight 121. People want to see Snakes on a Plane." When I picked up the script and I saw the title, I didn't even read it and I said, "I want to do it." You know, before I opened the first page, Snakes on a Plane. If this is what I think it is, I want to be in this. I want to be on a plane full of poisonous snakes. And I want to see other people on a plane full of poisonous snakes. You say Snakes on a Plane, people who don't like snakes are intrigued. The people who don't like to fly are intrigued. The people who don't like both are totally terrified now. People who just like seeing mayhem are ready for that. They want to see, you know, people enclosed in a big tin tube getting attacked by poisonous snakes. Come on! What could be more exciting than that, you know? What do you do? What do you do until the plane lands? Come on, Snakes on a Plane, that's the title. And, you know, somebody heard that comment, people on the Internet got behind it. "That's right! [pounding the table, with gruff voice] We want Snakes on a Plane!" So now, there's, I don't know, five, six websites, you know, that are dedicated . . . There are T-shirts, there are bags, there are jackets . . . Snakes on a Plane. [pauses, then looks wide-eyed] And by the way, you get some good snakes too!

Tales Of Worm Paranoia

Eddie Fitzgerald's contribution to the What A Cartoon! days at Cartoon Network, when the studio was very open to pitches for animated shorts and series. He threw a pretty wild hat in the ring! Check it out.

Thanks to John K. for the tip-off!

Dad Update

Since I last wrote, I've been getting daily e-mails from my family. Dad's doing much better - he's eating more and taking the Celebrex is helping with his joint pain. After a few days, he didn't need those meds anymore, so that's good! He's done a blood panel through his local doctor, so now we're waiting for the results. We'll see if anything shows up.

Blood On The Red Carpet

Annie Proulx on how her Brokeback Oscar hopes were dashed by Crash
Saturday March 11, 2006
The Guardian

On the sidewalk stood hordes of the righteous, some leaning forward like wind-bent grasses, the better to deliver their imprecations against gays and fags to the open windows of the limos - the windows open by order of the security people - creeping toward the Kodak Theater for the 78th Academy Awards. Others held up sturdy, professionally crafted signs expressing the same hatred.
The red carpet in front of the theatre was larger than the Red Sea. Inside, we climbed grand staircases designed for showing off dresses. The circular levels filled with men in black, the women mostly in pale, frothy gowns. Sequins, diamonds, glass beads, trade beads sparkled like the interior of a salt mine. More exquisite dresses appeared every moment, some made from six yards of taffeta, and many with sweeping trains that demanded vigilance from strolling attendees lest they step on a mermaid's tail. There was one man in a kilt - there is always one at award ceremonies - perhaps a professional roving Scot hired to give colour to the otherwise monotone showing of clustered males. Larry McMurtry defied the dress code by wearing his usual jeans and cowboy boots.

The people connected with Brokeback Mountain, including me, hoped that, having been nominated for eight Academy awards, it would get Best Picture as it had at the funny, lively Independent Spirit awards the day before. (If you are looking for smart judging based on merit, skip the Academy Awards next year and pay attention to the Independent Spirit choices.) We should have known conservative heffalump academy voters would have rather different ideas of what was stirring contemporary culture. Roughly 6,000 film industry voters, most in the Los Angeles area, many living cloistered lives behind wrought-iron gates or in deluxe rest-homes, out of touch not only with the shifting larger culture and the yeasty ferment that is America these days, but also out of touch with their own segregated city, decide which films are good. And rumour has it that Lions Gate inundated the academy voters with DVD copies of Trash - excuse me - Crash a few weeks before the ballot deadline. Next year we can look to the awards for controversial themes on the punishment of adulterers with a branding iron in the shape of the letter A, runaway slaves, and the debate over free silver.

After a good deal of standing around admiring dresses and sucking up champagne, people obeyed the stentorian countdown commands to get in their seats as "the show" was about to begin. There were orders to clap and the audience obediently clapped. From the first there was an atmosphere of insufferable self-importance emanating from "the show" which, as the audience was reminded several times, was televised and being watched by billions of people all over the world. Those lucky watchers could get up any time they wished and do something worthwhile, like go to the bathroom. As in everything related to public extravaganzas, a certain soda pop figured prominently. There were montages, artfully meshed clips of films of yesteryear, live acts by Famous Talent, smart-ass jokes by Jon Stewart who was witty and quick, too witty, too quick, too eastern perhaps for the somewhat dim LA crowd. Both beautiful and household-name movie stars announced various prizes. None of the acting awards came Brokeback's way, you betcha. The prize, as expected, went to Philip Seymour Hoffman for his brilliant portrayal of Capote, but in the months preceding the awards thing, there has been little discussion of acting styles and various approaches to character development by this year's nominees. Hollywood loves mimicry, the conversion of a film actor into the spittin' image of a once-living celeb. But which takes more skill, acting a person who strolled the boulevard a few decades ago and who left behind tapes, film, photographs, voice recordings and friends with strong memories, or the construction of characters from imagination and a few cold words on the page? I don't know. The subject never comes up. Cheers to David Strathairn, Joaquin Phoenix and Hoffman, but what about actors who start in the dark?

Everyone thanked their dear old mums, scout troop leaders, kids and consorts. More commercials, more quick wit, more clapping, beads of sweat, Stewart maybe wondering what evil star had lighted his way to this labour. Despite the technical expertise and flawlessly sleek set evocative of 1930s musicals, despite Dolly Parton whooping it up and Itzhak Perlman blending all the theme music into a single performance (he represented "culchah"), there was a kind of provincial flavour to the proceedings reminiscent of a small-town talent-show night. Clapping wildly for bad stuff enhances this. There came an atrocious act from Hustle and Flow, Three 6 Mafia's violent rendition of "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp", a favourite with the audience who knew what it knew and liked. This was a big winner, a bushel of the magic gold-coated gelded godlings going to the rap group.

The hours sped by on wings of boiler plate. Brokeback's first award was to Argentinean Gustavo Santaolalla for the film's plangent and evocative score. Later came the expected award for screenplay adaptation to Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry, and only a short time later the director's award to Ang Lee. And that was it, three awards, putting it on equal footing with King Kong. When Jack Nicholson said best picture went to Crash, there was a gasp of shock, and then applause from many - the choice was a hit with the home team since the film is set in Los Angeles. It was a safe pick of "controversial film" for the heffalumps.

After three-and-a-half hours of butt-numbing sitting we stumbled away, down the magnificent staircases, and across the red carpet. In the distance men were shouting out limousine numbers, "406 . . . 27 . . . 921 . . . 62" and it seemed someone should yell "Bingo!" It was now dark, or as dark as it gets in the City of Angels. As we waited for our number to be called we could see the enormous lighted marquee across the street announcing that the "2006 Academy Award for Best Picture had gone to Crash". The red carpet now had taken on a different hue, a purple tinge.

The source of the colour was not far away. Down the street, spreading its baleful light everywhere, hung a gigantic, vertical, electric-blue neon sign spelling out S C I E N T O L O G Y.

"Seven oh six," bawled the limo announcer's voice. Bingo.

For those who call this little piece a Sour Grapes Rant, play it as it lays.

Microsoft Designs The iPod Package: Follow-Up

Microsoft Confirms it Originated iPod Box Parody Video
Tuesday, March 14th, 2006 at 2:05 PM - by Brad Cook

Microsoft spokesman Tom Pilla on Tuesday confirmed with iPod Observer that his company initiated the creation of the iPod packaging parody video that was first reported last month. "It was an internal-only video clip commissioned by our packaging [team] to humorously highlight the challenges we have faced RE: packaging and to educate marketers here about the pitfalls of packaging/branding," he said via e-mail.

The video, which surfaced on You Tube but has since been removed and can now be found on Google Video, pokes fun at Microsoft's tendency toward cluttered packaging by imagining how the company would have designed the box for the original iPod. Where Apple's design is sparse, Microsoft's final creation is full of so many stickers and other information that the photo of the MP3 player can be barely seen.

Mr. Pilla noted: "While MS did not release the video, it's natural to share funny things with friends. So while we didn't publicly share the video, it was shared with appropriate teams internally. We're happy to see others enjoy the laugh as well."

Thanks to John Hudgens for the follow-up!

Disney Business Card On Ebay

Check it out!

Final bid - $1,802. Wow!

Star Trek Dating Service

From Sci Fi Wire:

Trek Fans Can Date Online

Online dating is going where no one has gone before: to fans of Star Trek and other SF through the TrekPassions.com Web site, according to a report on MSNBC.com.

The site calls itself "a free personals site for science fiction lovers, including but not limited to Star Trek. Find others who share your passion for sci-fi. Meet people who read Asimov, Bova, Heinlein, Adams, Clarke and more." The site also offers chat and other services.

"These Star Trek people. I mean, you know, these are serious, devoted fans," said Jim Tracy, publisher of Online Dating Magazine, in an interview with MSNBC's Tucker Carlson.

Construction Has Begun

We finally got all of the permits we needed, so the bathroom renovation began in earnest about a week ago. That area looks like the clean house from E.T., wrapped in translucent plastic. Lots of banging and power tools, so naturally Mouszers is terrified. Anita stays with her as much as she can to help calm her down.

Today we had an electrical accident - too many power tools fried something across the street, flooding our house with twice as much current as it usually gets. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and there doesn't seem to be any permanent damage. But I could smell that ozone odor when I returned from work.

A worker also accidentally punched a hole in the guest bedroom ceiling (below the new bathroom) with his foot. We're widening our driveway as well, so it's cordoned off and full of rubble. That resulted in the main line to the street being punctured (which I'm assuming is repaired, since we still have running water). Pretty hectic at the house right now!

Dude! Isaac Hayes Quits South Park

By ERIN CARLSON, Associated Press Writer
Monday, March 13, 2006
(03-13) 13:40 PST New York (AP) --

Isaac Hayes has quit "South Park," where he voices Chef, saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion.

Hayes, who has played the ladies' man/school cook in the animated Comedy Central satire since 1997, said in a statement Monday that he feels a line has been crossed.

"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," the 63-year-old soul singer and outspoken Scientologist said.

"Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored," he continued. "As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices."

"South Park" co-creator Matt Stone responded sharply in an interview with The Associated Press Monday, saying, "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem — and he's cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians."

Last November, "South Park" targeted the Church of Scientology and its celebrity followers, including actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, in a top-rated episode called "Trapped in the Closet." In the episode, Stan, one of the show's four mischievous fourth graders, is hailed as a reluctant savior by Scientology leaders, while a cartoon Cruise locks himself in a closet and won't come out.

Stone told The AP he and co-creator Trey Parker "never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin."

Speaking Of Alan Moore

Here's a video interview with him, courtesty of YouTube.

Blum Blum

A student film from Duane Crowther, made in the late forties. Pretty cool!

Little Man Trailer

You're not even gonna believe this. It's not a parody trailer on SNL or MadTV. It's real. Wow.

Thanks to I watch Stuff! I think.

NY Times Alan Moore Article

The Vendetta Behind 'V for Vendetta'
By DAVE ITZKOFF
Published: March 12, 2006

The most vivid characters in Alan Moore's graphic novels are antiheroes of ambiguous morality and identity: costumed avengers like Rorschach, the disturbed street vigilante of "Watchmen," or the crusader known only by the letter V, who commits catastrophic acts of terrorism in the dystopian tale "V for Vendetta."

With inventions like these, and a body of writing that spans nearly three decades, Mr. Moore, a 52-year-old native of Northampton, England, distinguished himself as a darkly philosophical voice in the medium of comic books — a rare talent whose work can sell solely on the strength of his name. But if Mr. Moore had his way today, his name would no longer appear on almost any of the graphic novels with which he is most closely associated. "I don't want anything more to do with these works," he said in a recent telephone interview, "because they were stolen from me — knowingly stolen from me."

In Mr. Moore's account of his career, the villains are clearly defined: they are the mainstream comics industry — particularly DC Comics, the American publisher of "Watchmen" and "V for Vendetta" — which he believes has hijacked the properties he created, and the American film business, which has distorted his writing beyond recognition. To him, the movie adaptation of "V for Vendetta," which opens on Friday, is not the biggest platform yet for his ideas: it is further proof that Hollywood should be avoided at all costs. "I've read the screenplay," Mr. Moore said. "It's rubbish."

Mr. Moore has never been shy about expressing himself. With "Watchmen," a multilayered epic from 1986-87 (illustrated by Dave Gibbons) about a team of superheroes in an era of rampant crime and nuclear paranoia — and again with "V for Vendetta" (illustrated by David Lloyd), published in America in 1988-89, about an enigmatic freedom fighter opposing a totalitarian British regime — Mr. Moore helped prove that graphic novels could be a vehicle for sophisticated storytelling. "Alan was one of the first writers of our generation, of great courage and great literary skill," said Paul Levitz, the president and publisher of DC Comics. "You could watch him stretching the boundaries of the medium."

But by 1989, Mr. Moore had severed his ties with DC. The publisher says he objected to its decision to label its adult-themed comics (including some of his own) as "Suggested for Mature Readers." Mr. Moore says he was objecting to language in his contracts that would give him back the rights to "Watchmen" and "V for Vendetta" when they went out of print — language that he says turned out to be meaningless, because DC never intended to stop reprinting either book. "I said, 'Fair enough,' " he recalls. " 'You have managed to successfully swindle me, and so I will never work for you again.' "

Mr. Levitz said that such so-called reversion clauses routinely appear in comic book contracts, and that DC has honored all of its obligations to Mr. Moore. "I don't think Alan was dissatisfied at the time," Mr. Levitz said. "I think he was dissatisfied several years later."

Mr. Lloyd, the illustrator of "V for Vendetta," also found it difficult to sympathize with Mr. Moore's protests. When he and Mr. Moore sold their film rights to the graphic novel, Mr. Lloyd said: "We didn't do it innocently. Neither myself nor Alan thought we were signing it over to a board of trustees who would look after it like it was the Dead Sea Scrolls."

Mr. Moore recognizes that his senses of justice and proportion may seem overdeveloped. "It is important to me that I should be able to do whatever I want," he said. "I was kind of a selfish child, who always wanted things his way, and I've kind of taken that over into my relationship with the world."

Today, he resides in the sort of home that every gothic adolescent dreams of, one furnished with a library of rare books, antique gold-adorned wands and a painting of the mystical Enochian tables used by Dr. John Dee, the court astrologer of Queen Elizabeth I. He shuns comic-book conventions, never travels outside England and is a firm believer in magic as a "science of consciousness." "I am what Harry Potter grew up into," he said, "and it's not a pretty sight."

Actually, he more closely resembles the boy-wizard's half-giant friend Hagrid, with his bushy, feral beard and intense gaze, but those closest to Mr. Moore say his intimidating exterior is deceptive. "Because he looks like a wild man, people assume that he must be one," said the artist Melinda Gebbie, Mr. Moore's fiancée and longtime collaborator. "He's frightening to people because he doesn't seem to take the carrot, and he's fighting to maintain an integrity that they don't understand."

After he left DC Comics, he spent the 1990's working his way from one independent publisher to the next, ultimately arriving at Wildstorm Studios, owned by the comics artist Jim Lee. There, Mr. Moore was given his own imprint, called America's Best Comics, where he continued to write such pioneering and popular titles as "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," about a proto-superhero team of Victorian literary characters including Allan Quatermain, Captain Nemo and the Invisible Man.

DC Comics purchased Wildstorm, in 1998, expecting that Mr. Moore would not tolerate the arrangement. "We did the deal on the assumption that Alan would be gone the day it was signed," said Mr. Levitz. But Mr. Moore's loyalty to his artists trumped his aversion to his former employers, and he stayed put. "It seemed easier to bite the bullet meself," he said.

In 2001, the first film adaptation of one of Mr. Moore's graphic novels arrived in theaters. "From Hell," distributed by 20th Century Fox, was based on his extensively researched account of the Jack the Ripper murders, a 572-page black-and-white title illustrated by Eddie Campbell. Mr. Moore had no creative participation in the film, and happily so. "There was no way that I would be able to be fair to it," he said. "I did not wish to be connected with it, and regarded it as something separate to my work. In retrospect, this was kind of a naïve attitude."

Two years later, when 20th Century Fox released a movie version of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," the screenwriter Larry Cohen and the producer Martin Poll sued the studio, charging that elements of the film had been plagiarized from their work. Though the film, which was one of the year's costliest flops, differed drastically from the graphic novel, the lawsuit nonetheless claimed that the "Extraordinary Gentlemen" comics had been created as a "smokescreen" to cover up the theft.

Mr. Moore found the accusations deeply insulting, and the 10 hours of testimony he was compelled to give, via video link, even more so. "If I had raped and murdered a schoolbus full of retarded children after selling them heroin," he said, "I doubt that I would have been cross-examined for 10 hours." When the case was settled out of court, Mr. Moore took it as an especially bitter blow, believing that he had been denied the chance to exonerate himself.

Since then, he has refused to allow any more movies to be made from work he controls. In the case of work whose rights he does not control, he has refused credits on any film adaptations, and has given his share of option money and royalties to the artists who illustrated the original comic books. That position is so radical that though his colleagues say they respect his position, few in the film industry can understand it.

"It's very simple, but they don't seem to hear it," said John O'Neill, the illustrator of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." "They just gravitate towards offering more money."

Last year, when Mr. Moore received a phone call from Larry Wachowski — who, with his brother, Andy, had written and directed the "Matrix" movies — to discuss the "V for Vendetta" film that the Wachowskis were writing and producing for Warner Brothers, Mr. Moore felt he had made it clear that he did not want to be involved in the project.

"I explained to him that I'd had some bad experiences in Hollywood," Mr. Moore said. "I didn't want any input in it, didn't want to see it and didn't want to meet him to have coffee and talk about ideas for the film."

But at a press conference on March 4, 2005, to announce the start of production on the "V for Vendetta" film, the producer Joel Silver said Mr. Moore was "very excited about what Larry had to say and Larry sent the script, so we hope to see him sometime before we're in the U.K." This, Mr. Moore said, "was a flat lie."

"Given that I'd already published statements saying I wasn't interested in the film, it actually made me look duplicitous," he said.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Silver said he had misconstrued a meeting he had with Mr. Moore and Dave Gibbons nearly 20 years ago, when Mr. Silver first acquired the film rights to "Watchmen" and "V for Vendetta." (Mr. Silver no longer owns the rights to "Watchmen," though Warner Brothers is still planning an adaptation.) "I had a nice little lunch with them," he said, "and Alan was odd, but he was enthusiastic and encouraging us to do this. I had foolishly thought that he would continue feeling that way today, not realizing that he wouldn't."

Mr. Silver said he called Mr. Moore to apologize for his statement at the press conference, but that Mr. Moore was unmoved. "He said to me, 'I'm going to hang up on you if you don't stop talking to me,' " Mr. Silver recalled. "It was like a conversation with a tape recording."

Through his editors at DC Comics (like Warner Brothers, a subsidiary of Time Warner), Mr. Moore insisted that the studio publicly retract Mr. Silver's remarks. When no retraction was made, Mr. Moore once again quit his association with DC (and Wildstorm along with it), and demanded that his name be removed from the "V for Vendetta" film, as well as from any of his work that DC might reprint in the future.

The producers of "V for Vendetta" reluctantly agreed to strip Mr. Moore's name from the film's credits, a move that saddened Mr. Lloyd, who still endorses the film. "Alan and I were like Laurel and Hardy when we worked on that," Mr. Lloyd said. "We clicked. I felt bad about not seeing a credit for that team preserved, but there you go."

DC, however, said it would be inappropriate to take Mr. Moore's name off of any of his works. "This isn't an adaptation of the work, it's not a derivative work, it's not a work that's been changed in any fashion from how he was happy with it a minute ago," said Mr. Levitz.

Still, some DC editors hope that Mr. Moore might return. "He remains a good friend, and I would work with him again in a heartbeat," said Karen Berger, the executive editor of the DC imprint Vertigo, in an e-mail statement.

But Mr. Moore does not seem likely to change his mind this time. For one thing, his schedule is almost entirely consumed with other comics projects, including a new volume of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," to be released in late 2006 or early 2007 by the American publisher Top Shelf Productions. This summer, Mr. Moore said, Top Shelf will also be publishing "Lost Girls," his 16-years-in-the-making collaboration with Ms. Gebbie, a series of unrepentantly pornographic adventures told by the grown-up incarnations of Wendy Darling of "Peter Pan," Alice of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and Dorothy Gale of "The Wizard of Oz." "I refuse to call it erotica, because that just sounds like pornography for people who've got more money," Mr. Moore said. "It would seem to be possible to come up with a kind of pornography that was meaningful and beautiful, not ugly."

Ms. Gebbie said she was more excited to see Mr. Moore finish his novel "Jerusalem," another years-long project that he estimates will total 750 pages when complete. "It's his story, his heritage, his blood ties and his amazing, wonderful system of beliefs," Ms. Gebbie said. "This book for him is an unfolding of his real, deep self."

But Mr. Moore suggested that his comic-book writing has already defined his identity. He recalled an encounter with a fan who asked him to sign a horrific issue of his 1980's comic "The Saga of the Swamp Thing"; the admirer then disclosed that he was a special effects designer for the television series "CSI: NY." "Every time you've got an ice pick going into someone's brain, and the close-ups of the little spurting ruptured blood vessels, and that horrible squishing sound, that's him," Mr. Moore said. "So that's something I can be proud of. This is my legacy."

Wishful Thinking

On this day in 1868, the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson began in the United States Senate. Read the original New York Times article here.

Another Art Purchase

A Boob McNutt original Sunday strip (drawn by Rube Goldberg), purchased from All-Star Auctions. Cool!

Two Cool Movies Coming To DVD

Night Of The Iguana, with Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr, Sue Lyon, and Ava Gardner; directed by John Huston. Here's a synopsis/review from a blog called Like Anna Karina's Sweater:

When a film's pre-credit sequence has Richard Burton (as a priest) suffering a complete nervous breakdown in front of his parishioners, you know you're in for something special. Of all the filmed adaptations of Tennessee Williams' plays, John Huston's Night of the Iguana (1964) is easily one of the best. This tale of a defrocked, alcoholic priest (Burton) and the various women in his life contains the typical Williams themes -- guilt, repressed sexuality. and spiritual torment. The best thing about the film (besides the wonderful black and white photography by cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa) is the performances by the three leads -- Burton, Ava Gardner, and Deborah Kerr.

Some have claimed that Richard Burton is being too Richard Burton in the film, but Filmbrain believes it is one of his best performances, running a close second to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Ava Gardner, looking a bit haggard after her Sinatra years, gives a stellar performance, as does Deborah Kerr. Sue Lyon, in a near reprise of her role in Lolita, looks right for the part, but simply cannot keep up with her co-stars.

The story is set in Mexico, and most of the action takes place at a mountaintop inn run by Maxine Faulk (Ava Gardner). Locked out of his church, the alcoholic Reverend Lawrence Shannon (Burton) now operates bus tours of Mexico for wealthy American women. He incurs the wrath of Judith Fellowes (Grayson Hall -- born to play this sort of character) when she suspects that Burton has seduced nymphomaniac jailbait passenger Charlotte Goodall (Sue Lyon). Determined to destroy him, Burton has no choice but to hijack the group and keep them at his friend Maxine's inn in order to prevent Judith from reporting the affair to both the tour company and the clergy. Also staying at the hotel is Hannah Jelkes (Deborah Kerr) a New England spinster traveling with her ninety-two year old poet grandfather Nonno (Cyril Delevanti). A great hodgepodge of characters as only Williams can create.

The world at the inn is one dominated by women -- the nymphet, the vamp, the spinster and a handful of old crones -- and Burton finds himself increasingly set upon by all of them. In fact, other than Maxine's two servants cum sexual playthings, Pepe and Pedro (always shown shirtless and shaking maracas), Burton is the reluctant rooster in the hen house. (The bus driver, old poet, and stoned Chinese cook pose no threat to that paradigm.) Though he and Maxine have had a sexual past (even while she was married), he's more consumed by chasing his demons than the women who desire him.

The dialogue is sharp from start to finish, and screenwriter Anthony Veiller did a great job with the adaptation. For example, when Maxine suspects that Hannah has eyes for the Reverend, she brushes it off with "I'm a New England spinster who is pushing forty", only to be met with Maxine's "Well who the hell isn't?" Or when it's revealed that Ms. Fellowes' hatred of the Reverend is due to her own Sapphic desire for the young Charlotte, Maxine (she really has the best lines) delivers the following -- "Do you know that if it wasn't for the dikes, the plains of Texas would be engulfed by the gulf?" -- a great way to address a then-taboo subject.

Yet Night of the Iguana is truly Burton's film. Whether he's screaming at parishioners, walking on broken glass, or thrashing about while tied to a hammock -- this is a masterful performance. The paranoia, the fear, the fever-driven madness -- Burton pulls it off without once going over the top. The pristine letterbox print that shows occasionally on Turner Classic Movies is ripe for DVD -- hopefully someone will resurrect this wonderful film so that all can experience it.


Also for the first time on DVD - The Loved One, featuring James Coburn, John Gielgud, Jonathan Winters, Liberace, Milton Berle, Robert Morley, Robert Morse, Rod Steiger, Roddy McDowall, Paul Williams, and Tab Hunter; directed by Tony Richardson. How could all of these wildly disparate actors be in the same film? Well, this is not your average movie. jotix100 had this to say on the Internet Movie Database:

...this acerbic satire about the funeral business was written by Evelyn Waugh, an Englishman who saw the excesses about the art of preparing "the loved ones" for their final send off into eternity. The magnificent screen play is credited to Terry Southern and Christopher Isherwood, although other writers were also involved in its adaptation. The brilliant black and white cinematography by Haskell Wexler still has original crispness in the copy that was shown, which might have been because of a DVD format we saw.

The story is seen through Dennis Barlow,a young Englishman who comes to L.A. for a visit. He looks for his uncle, Sir Francis Hinsley, who works for a movie studio. Sir Francis moves among the English expatriates that had a love/hate relationship with the film industry, but who had better lives than in England. At least, in Los Angeles, they were seen as a rarity with tremendous panache, in sharp contrast with the uneducated heads of studios and so-called stars.

When Sir Francis dies in tragic circumstances, the Brits decide to appoint young Dennis to select the proper way to bury him. That's how Dennis comes to Whispering Glades, the ultimate resting place for the privileged and the famous. To say he suffers culture shock, is to put it mildly. Nothing prepares him for the excesses he sees in the place, that is being run by the mysterious Rev. Wilbur Glenworthy. It's here that he meets and falls in love with Aimee, the girl that is promoted to be the first woman embalmer. He is shown about what to order by the unctuous Mr. Sarles who wants him to pick the best the place has to offer. Dennis is also puzzled by the way the embalmer, Mr. Joyboy, has prepared Sir Francis for his friends to see him at the place.

Dennis, not having a job, is recruited by Henry Glenworthy in helping with the pet cemetery. He meets enough weirdos to last a lifetime. Henry, a businessman himself, decides to add a novel way to send the pets skyward by hiring young Gunther. The devilish Rev. Wilbur sees the invention and wants it for Whispering Glades. In an incredible finale, young Gunther achieves greatness by creating the send off to end all send offs.

The amazing thing about "The Loved One" is the performances Tony Richardson got out of all the actors in the film. Robert Morse is Dennis, a naive in the land of fantasy. Jonathan Winters playing dual roles of Henry and Wilbur Glenworthy, is in top form. Rod Steiger as the mad embalmer, Mr. Joyboy, has one of the best moments of his career. Anjanette Comer shows an affinity for Aimee. John Gielgud makes a wonderful Sir Francis. Paul Williams is young Gunther. But Liberace, who wasn't known as an actor, makes a devastating appearance as the salesman in the Whispering Glades showroom, the man who wants to offer nothing but the best for "the loved one" in his final appearance...

Night Of The Iguana comes out on DVD May 2nd, The Loved One on June 20th.

Cleaned-Up Fetch Page! In Color!

Here's the first final page for my short story in the Afterworks 2 collection. Enjoy!

Peggy Noonan On The Oscars, And George Clooney In Particular

Here's the article. I agreed with a lot of her points, but it still annoyed me.

The first half of the article is about The Oscar broadcast, and how the multiplication of award shows has diluted its unique impact. I've never been a big fan of watching it (maybe because I've never won a lot of contests myself, so I'm not a big fan of competition), but I agree there's way, way too much of this sort of thing.

The second half is about her take on Hollywood Now, which she says is "politically and culturally to the left of America, and it often seems disdainful of or oblivious to its assumptions and traditions". I think that's true. It's a pretty large creative community, and I would think that the initial group - the folks who picked up and moved across the country to make movies - weren't a traditional sort of bunch. I know that people will do a lot of things for a steady job, but I'd imagine that non-traditionalists made up a lot of the cinematic pioneers. Creative, political, sexual, whatever kinds of non-traditionalists.

I also don't imagine that a lot of these early filmmakers were all that accepted in the places where they came from, which I would imagine would make that big move a little easier. Hollywood being a lot of younger folks (as it can be), they probably hadn't sorted out a lot of the ambivalence (or disdain) for the mainstream culture of the heartland. I imagine that's true to some degree today as well.

As filmmakers and performers get more powerful, they also can become more isolated from the mainstream, and many of their experiences do come from the media. It can certainly lead to finger-wagging preachiness, as we've seen from Mr. Robbins, Ms. Sarandon, Madonna, and much of the rest of the 'cast' of Team America. To be honest, I think Mr. Clooney is a lesser example. With all the press he's had to give over the years, he seems surprisingly grounded.

Ms. Noonan then bemoans that "Hollywood isn't making the kind of movies that compel people to leave their homes and go to the multiplex." Which in this article doesn't seem to mean bad, as many modern movies are, but preachy political tracts, like Mr. Clooney is guilty of. Personally, I think this sort of film is still in the minority - there are good, entertaining films to see (like The 40 Year Old Virgin, Napoleon Dynamite, or Wallace And Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit) that seem connected to modern culture with nary a finger wagged.

Since Good Night, And Good Luck and Syriana didn't win much at the Oscars, I suppose this is more about Mr. Clooney's general attitude in interviews (and in his films) lately. I'm not sure the best response to a filmmaker who annoys you by behaving as if you don't know very much is to write "let me tell you how little he knows".

She feels that Mr. Clooney makes films as if he's experienced mostly media, and not real life, that he's "read an article and now wants to tell us the truth, if we can handle it". It's not a predominent theme in the film, but part of the story does concern media - the transition from radio to television. She finds his current films flat, condescending and artificial, and insinuates that the events chronicled in Good Night, And Good Luck aren't accurate. It's not clear exactly what Ms. Noonan believes the truth to be. I guess we're supposed to take her word for it.

The only example of a film that "serves the audience" she hints at is The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe. If given the choice, personally I'd rather see an eloquent response to political intimidation than, say, a call to arms for children to fight evildoers for Santa Claus. American Idol serves its audience. Even if films like Good Night, And Good Luck fail, I'd still rather see filmmakers aiming a little higher, risking a wagging finger, even if it's just at Oscar time.

Microsoft Designs The iPod Package

That's all you need to know. Pretty funny! Check it out.

Graffiti

Nifty Music Video

I don't who did the visuals or the song, but the animation and design (aside from being a rampant lift-fest from Yellow Submarine) are pretty nice. The dizzying orchestra shots are my favorites!

Just A Cartoon?!

More evidence of the power of cartoons and animation, this time from Martin Goodman., and his traumatizing run-in with Duck And Cover back in the days of the Cuban missile crisis.

More Jittlov

If you'd like to see the Wizard Of Speed And Time short film in its entirety, you can find it here, along with the trailers for the feature, and Jittlov's demo reel. There's also a couple of short pixellation films from William Sellers, who sent me this link!

Also From Ningyoushi And Medicom

The Real Action Heroes version of the Rocketeer. Sweet! This line is responsible for some of the best versions of Trinity and Darth Vader. I missed out on when another company made this figure, but not this time! Pre-order yours for $10.

Cool New Toys On The Way!

Ningyoushi's got some great new figures coming from James Jarvis and Russell Waterman - meet Mr. Waverly, Rusty, and Dworkin. You can pre-order all of them for $10.

Ty Wong Video Segment

For an eight-minute piece, this 2004 career sketch of Bambi layout artist Ty Wong is pretty comprehensive.

A Tough Day Yesterday

One of my crowns came off on Monday night. Fortunately, it didn't hurt much, so I set up an appointment for yesterday at my dentist. I assumed it would be a matter of generating and attaching a new crown. Nope.

As it turned out, there wasn't enough of the original tooth left to use as the foundation for a new crown. That meant a root canal, so that a post could be inserted. What could have been a ten-minute procedure, then, turned into a two-hour one. Oog. Fortunately, root canals aren't as painful as their reputation might suggest - the infamous ones are teeth that have gotten infected. Aside from having to wait until dinner time to eat (I missed breakfast, and the appointment was at lunch), it went well, and I feel pretty good today. At least now I don't have to go to the wrap party looking like a snaggle-toothed pirate or prospector.

Unfortunately, just before dinner I got a call from my sister. My dad hasn't eaten anything of substance in five days, and my mother is sometimes helping him get dressed, and to get in and out of cars. He's had a sub-normal temperature, and sounds pretty weak. He's been to the doctor, but so far no one's been able to pin down what the trouble might be. A current theory is Parkinson's. I don't know enough about Parkinson's to be able to know if that conclusion fits the symptoms or not.

Needless to say, I'm a bit rattled. Anita and I want to take him on a trip to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington at some point, something I think he'd really enjoy.

I'll keep posting the new developments as they come in.

A Prairie Home Companion Trailer

I like Garrison Keillor and Robert Altman, so I'll probably check this out. But anyone's who's seen more than a few Altman films knows that this can go either way. Thanks again to I Watch Stuff! for the tip.

New X3 Trailer

The new trailer for X3: The Last Stand looks better than the last one, but I have a feeling that this is going to be a trailer movie. Not a trailer movie in the sense that it'll feel like one long trailer, but a trailer movie in the sense that there's plenty of stuff to make neat trailers with, but the film itself is bad (see most of the Batman films, or the Star Wars prequels). Maybe that's the same thing. Anyhow, thanks to I Watch Stuff! For the heads up.

What You Can Do

If the proposed abortion ban in South Daokta has you upset, you can do what I did and donate to the Planned Parenthood website. You can also sign the Roe Call petition and write an e-mail to Governor Mike Rounds.

By The Way

As you can see, I've been experimenting with posting articles in their entirety on my blog. If it's too unwieldly to read, and you'd rather just have a link to the original site, let me know!

Roger Ebert's Rebuttal

The fury of the 'Crash'-lash

BY ROGER EBERT / March 6, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- One of the mysteries of the 2006 Oscar season is the virulence with which lovers of "Brokeback Mountain" savaged "Crash." When the film about racism actually won the Oscar for best picture Sunday, there was no grace in their response. As someone who felt "Brokeback" was a great film but "Crash" a greater one, I would have been pleased if either had won.

But here is Ken Turan in the Los Angeles Times, writing on the morning after: "So for people who were discomfited by 'Brokeback Mountain' but wanted to be able to look themselves in the mirror and feel like they were good, productive liberals, 'Crash' provided the perfect safe harbor. They could vote for it in good conscience, vote for it and feel they had made a progressive move, vote for it and not feel that there was any stain on their liberal credentials for shunning what 'Brokeback' had to offer. And that's exactly what they did."

And Nikki Finke, in the LA Weekly: "Way back on Jan. 17, I decided to nominate the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Bunch of Hypocrites. That's because I felt this year's dirty little Oscar secret was the anecdotal evidence pouring in to me about hetero members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences being unwilling to screen 'Brokeback Mountain.' For a community that takes pride in progressive values, it seemed shameful to me that Hollywood's homophobia could be on a par with Pat Robertson's."

Yes, and more than one critic described "Crash" as "the worst film of the year," which is as extreme as saying John Kerry was a coward in Vietnam. It means you'll say anything to help your campaign.

What is intriguing about these writers is that they never mention the other three best picture nominees: "Capote," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Munich." Their silence on these films reveals their agenda: They wanted "Brokeback Mountain" to win, saw "Crash" as the spoiler, and attacked "Crash." If "Munich" had been the spoiler, they might not have focused on "Crash." When they said those who voted for "Crash" were homophobes who were using a liberal movie to mask their hatred of homosexuals, they might have said the same thing about "Munich."

This seems simply wrong. Consider Finke's "anecdotal evidence" that puts Hollywood's homophobia on a par with Pat Robertson's. Pat Robertson? This is certainly the most extreme statement she could make on the subject, but can it be true? How many anecdotes add up to evidence? Did anyone actually tell her they didn't want to see the movie because it was about two gay men?

My impression, also based on anecdotal evidence, is that the usual number of academy voters saw the usual number of academy nominees, and voted for the ones they admired the most. In a year without "Brokeback Mountain," Finke, Turan and many others might have admired "Crash." Or maybe not. But it's a matter of opinion, not sexual politics.

It is not a "safe harbor," but a film that takes the discussion of racism in America in a direction it has not gone before in the movies, directing attention at those who congratulate themselves on not being racist, including liberals and/or minority group members. It is a movie of raw confrontation about the complexity of our motives, about how racism works not only top down but sideways, and how in different situations, we are all capable of behaving shamefully.

"Good Night, and Good Luck," "Capote" and "Munich" were also risky pictures -- none more so, from a personal point of view, than "Munich," which afforded Steven Spielberg the unique experience of being denounced as anti-Semitic. "Good Night, and Good Luck" was surely a "safe harbor" for liberals, with its attack at a safe distance on McCarthyism -- although it carried an inescapable reference to McCarthyism as practiced by the Bush administration, which equates its critics with supporters of terrorism.

"Capote" was a brilliant character study of a writer who was gay, and who used his sexuality, as we all use our sexuality, as a part of his personal armory in daily battle.

It is noticeable how many writers on "Hollywood's homophobia" were able to sidestep "Capote," which was a hard subject to miss, being right there on the same list of best picture nominees. Were supporters of "Brokeback" homophobic in championing the cowboys over what Oscarcast host Jon Stewart called the "effete New York intellectual"?

Of course not. "Brokeback Mountain" was simply a better movie than "Capote." And "Crash" was better than "Brokeback Mountain," although they were both among the best films of the year. That is a matter of opinion. But I was not "discomfited" by "Brokeback Mountain." Read my original review. I chose "Crash" as the best film of the year not because it promoted one agenda and not another, but because it was a better film.

The nature of the attacks on "Crash" by the supporters of "Brokeback Mountain" seem to proceed from the other position: "Brokeback" is better not only because of its artistry but because of its subject matter, and those who disagree hate homosexuals. Its supporters could vote for it in good conscience, vote for it and feel they had made a progressive move, vote for it and not feel that there was any stain on their liberal credentials for shunning what "Crash" had to offer.

Breaking No Ground

LA Times critic Kenneth Turan writes on why he feels Crash won the best picture Oscar:

March 5, 2006
Sometimes you win by losing, and nothing has proved what a powerful, taboo-breaking, necessary film "Brokeback Mountain" was more than its loss Sunday night to "Crash" in the Oscar best picture category.

Despite all the magazine covers it graced, despite all the red-state theaters it made good money in, despite (or maybe because of) all the jokes late-night talk show hosts made about it, you could not take the pulse of the industry without realizing that this film made a number of people distinctly uncomfortable.

More than any other of the nominated films, "Brokeback Mountain" was the one people told me they really didn't feel like seeing, didn't really get, didn't understand the fuss over. Did I really like it, they wanted to know. Yes, I really did.

In the privacy of the voting booth, as many political candidates who've led in polls only to lose elections have found out, people are free to act out the unspoken fears and unconscious prejudices that they would never breathe to another soul, or, likely, acknowledge to themselves. And at least this year, that acting out doomed "Brokeback Mountain."

For Hollywood, as a whole laundry list of people announced from the podium Sunday night and a lengthy montage of clips tried to emphasize, is a liberal place, a place that prides itself on its progressive agenda. If this were a year when voters had no other palatable options, they might have taken a deep breath and voted for "Brokeback." This year, however, "Crash" was poised to be the spoiler.

I do not for one minute question the sincerity and integrity of the people who made "Crash," and I do not question their commitment to wanting a more equal society. But I do question the film they've made. It may be true, as producer Cathy Schulman said in accepting the Oscar for best picture, that this was "one of the most breathtaking and stunning maverick years in American history," but "Crash" is not an example of that.

I don't care how much trouble "Crash" had getting financing or getting people on board, the reality of this film, the reason it won the best picture Oscar, is that it is, at its core, a standard Hollywood movie, as manipulative and unrealistic as the day is long. And something more.

For "Crash's" biggest asset is its ability to give people a carload of those standard Hollywood satisfactions but make them think they are seeing something groundbreaking and daring. It is, in some ways, a feel-good film about racism, a film you could see and feel like a better person, a film that could make you believe that you had done your moral duty and examined your soul when in fact you were just getting your buttons pushed and your preconceptions reconfirmed.

So for people who were discomfited by "Brokeback Mountain" but wanted to be able to look themselves in the mirror and feel like they were good, productive liberals, "Crash" provided the perfect safe harbor. They could vote for it in good conscience, vote for it and feel they had made a progressive move, vote for it and not feel that there was any stain on their liberal credentials for shunning what "Brokeback" had to offer. And that's exactly what they did.

"Brokeback," it is worth noting, was in some ways the tamest of the discomforting films available to Oscar voters in various categories. Steven Spielberg's "Munich"; the Palestinian Territories' "Paradise Now," one of the best foreign language nominees; and the documentary nominee "Darwin's Nightmare" offered scenarios that truly shook up people's normal ways of seeing the world. None of them won a thing.

Hollywood, of course, is under no obligation to be a progressive force in the world. It is in the business of entertainment, in the business of making the most dollars it can. Yes, on Oscar night, it likes to pat itself on the back for the good it does in the world, but as Sunday night's ceremony proved, it is easier to congratulate yourself for a job well done in the past than actually do that job in the present.

#@!&%!!

From the NY Times:
South Dakota Bans Abortion, Setting Up a Battle
By MONICA DAVEY

Gov. Michael Rounds of South Dakota signed into law the nation's most sweeping state abortion ban on Monday, an intentional provocation meant to set up a direct legal challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 United States Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal.

The law makes it a felony to perform any abortion except in a case of a pregnant woman's life being in jeopardy. Though the law is not scheduled to go into effect until July, officials working at the state's only abortion clinic, in Sioux Falls, where about 800 abortions take place each year, said they spent much of the day consoling women.

"This is a very real issue for a lot of people," said Kate Looby, state director of Planned Parenthood. "That's the part I think the legislators don't quite understand."

Mr. Rounds, a Republican, said in a statement after signing the legislation in Pierre that it was the right thing to do. The law will force a legal showdown before it ever comes into effect, an outcome its supporters, eager to overturn Roe, intended.

"In the history of the world, the true test of a civilization is how well people treat the most vulnerable and most helpless in their society," the governor said. "The sponsors and supporters of this bill believe that abortion is wrong because unborn children are the most vulnerable and most helpless persons in our society. I agree with them."

Around the country, abortion rights advocates responded with fury, calling the new law "blatantly unconstitutional," dangerous and counter to what a majority of Americans would support. Planned Parenthood, which operates the abortion clinic in South Dakota, pledged to use any means necessary — whether a federal lawsuit or a statewide referendum — to sideline the statute.

Under state law, if opponents collect 16,728 signatures of registered voters in the next three months the law will be delayed and a vote held on the issue in November.

"We're trying to evaluate the timing and the options now, but we're committed to making sure this does not come into effect," Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a telephone interview. "It's a sad day for the women of South Dakota. We had really hoped that the governor would weigh women's health as more important than politics."

Leaders on each side of the abortion debate said South Dakota's law had stirred new support and fervor for their causes. Abortion rights advocates reported a flood of donations, volunteers and membership requests since the abortion bill began drawing national attention last month.

Opponents said they, too, had had a flood of calls, including numerous donations to a defense fund to fight what is expected to be expensive litigation on behalf of South Dakota.

Already, the state's move seems to have emboldened legislators opposed to abortion elsewhere. For months, similar bills had been proposed in the statehouses of at least a half-dozen states, including Ohio, Georgia and Tennessee, but some efforts have gained steam in the weeks since the South Dakota Legislature overwhelmingly passed its ban.

"Legislators feel that now is the time to wrestle back their authority from the courts," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, based in Washington. "The courts have overstepped their bounds on issues like gay marriage, and the legislators are speaking up."

In Mississippi, an abortion ban with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother passed the House on Thursday. In Missouri, legislation that would outlaw all abortions except to save the life of the mother was proposed last week.

But opponents of abortion have split over South Dakota's approach, a fact that Mr. Rounds acknowledged in recent weeks as he weighed whether to sign the legislation.

Some, including those who led efforts to pass the ban in South Dakota, said they considered this the ideal time to return the central question of Roe to the Supreme Court. State Representative Roger Hunt, who sponsored the bill in South Dakota, pointed to the appointments of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., both conservatives, and what he described as the "strong possibility" of the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens in the near future and the naming of a conservative as his successor.

"This is our time," Mr. Hunt said on Monday.

Other national anti-abortion groups, though, have quietly disagreed with the timing, pressing instead to cut down on abortions by creating restrictions that may be more palatable to a wider audience, restrictions like parental and spousal notification laws and clinic regulations. If the Supreme Court upholds Roe, they have argued, the damage for those opposed to abortion rights will be grave.

"As much as this isn't the best strategic thing to do, it's there and it's the law of South Dakota now," said Daniel S. McConchie, vice president of Americans United for Life, another group. "We'll defend our position now — which is to oppose abortion."

Cristina Minniti, a spokeswoman for the National Right to Life Committee, said no one from her organization was available to be interviewed on the South Dakota law. Instead, she issued a one paragraph statement which stated, in part: "Currently there are at least five votes, a majority, on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Roe v. Wade."

Mr. Rounds, who became governor in 2003 after serving in the South Dakota Senate for a decade, declined to speak with reporters after the signing. In an earlier interview, he said that he personally felt uncertain about the timing of a challenge to Roe, but that he was leaning toward signing the bill, in part because he did not wish to divide the people who, like him, oppose abortion.

In the statement he issued on Monday, Mr. Rounds said he fully expected the law to be challenged, and that it might wind up in the nation's highest court. He compared the possibility of a reversal on Roe to that of the changing legal precedents around segregation.

"The reversal of a Supreme Court opinion is possible," the governor said. "For example, in 1896, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the Plessy vs. Ferguson case that a state could require racial segregation in public facilities if the facilities offered to different races were equal. However, 58 years later, the Supreme Court reconsidered that opinion and reversed itself in Brown vs. Board of Education."

Carolyn Marshall contributed reporting for this article.

Still More Problems

Now my airport has decided to time out my internet connection periodically - that interval usually being shorter than it currently takes to load a page. URGH. Right now, the browser response time is pretty snappy, but it's been pretty sluggish since last evening.

FeedBurner Up And Running!

Well, so far as I know. Ms. Kate came to the rescue once again (thanks, Kate!) and repaired my mangled site feed settings. I'm assuming this is used to help readers subscribe to my blog, so if you're so inclined, please do so and let me know if things are working properly (or not).

Live-Action Simpsons

Here's a clip from a UK Sky One ad. Pretty amazing - check out the background characters!

Like my friend Jim says, give it twenty years, and we'll probably see a movie like this.

More On Negadon

I didn't realize until recently that this is a short. Initially I was disappointed, but maybe this doesn't really need to be 90 minutes long anyway. I'll get the idea in 40 or less, and hopefully it'll end with me wanting more.

Technical Difficulties

I was in LA for the weekend, celebrating my friend Kevin's birthday - he turned the big 5-0! I had a great time, and also got to catch up with a lot of other friends at the dinner, and elsewhere in town the next day. That's one reason I've been quiet.

Another reason was that I was trying to figure out how to get Freeway to work on my computer, so I took it to the Genius Bar at the Emeryville Apple store. The fellow there said I'd need to re-install my current OS. Well, okay. So I did.

The problem was I forgot which version I'd installed, and wound up re-installing Panther instead of Tiger, which pretty much blew up everything. No Safari. Explorer barely worked. I couldn't log in to Blogger, or much of anyplace else. I don't see how I could've made the the mistake. They're both black discs with big X's on them. Plus I could've sworn the 'about this Mac' thing had said that I had 10.3 (Panther) in there. Sigh. Anyway.

Later on, I found the Tiger disc and re-installed it this morning. Safari is up again, but my scanner/printer drivers are still gone, so I'll have to find those disc(s) and re-install those, too. So there won't be any new art (or at least a lot less, since I'll have to use my work scanner) to see until that happens. Crumbs!

The good news is that once I re-installed Tiger, Freeway is working fine. So I can start to learn how to use it and re-model my website. A muted hooray!

Your Heart Is An Empty Room Video

Check out this Death Cab For Cutie video, directed by cartoonist Jeffrey Brown. The animation's stiff, but I like the drawing style. I like the song, too!

Thanks to the Drawn! blog for the tip.

The Japanese Sky Captain

It's got different footage this time! Check out the English trailer for Negadon: The Monster From Mars here.

The Cow As Margaret Dumont

If you don't who Margaret Dumont is, well, you're in for a treat! Get busy - we'll be here when you get back.

A Tidier Slice Of Cartoon Cheesecake

Here's the cleaned-up version of the slinky bunny I posted earlier. I stumbled across it in my portfolio.

Speaking Of Wonder Woman...

Here's a teaser poster designed by comics artist Adam Hughes. "Don't worry, folks," the poster seems to say, "there'll be breasts."

For Anita

Here's an Empire Magazine interview with Joss Wheden - he discusses Serenity, his Wonder Woman script, and other potential projects.

A Case For Impeachment

Wow. Bush has even made Garrison Keillor angry. That's like getting Fred Rogers mad. I didn't even know it was possible!

Thanks to Brian Stokes for the tip-off.

Brokeback To The Future Makes The New York Times

Read the article here.

I Think You'd Keep The Fax, Too

I'm still working on cleaning up this fax (the text was very low-contrast), but I thought you'd like to see it now. You better believe this went in the portfolio!

Scout Mice From Aqua Guppy

They may not be as good as the Tiny Toons ants, but I like 'em!

Best CD Review Title

The Sound Of Pension Funds Being Topped Off

-- Otto Luck, writing about The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang on Amazon.com.

Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor On The Frankenthaler Overnight?

From Yahoo! News:
Boy, 12, Sticks Gum on $1.5M Painting

Tue Feb 28, 7:40 PM ET
DETROIT - A 12-year-old visitor to the Detroit Institute of Arts stuck a wad of gum to a $1.5 million painting, leaving a stain the size of a quarter, officials say.

The boy was part of a school group from Holly that visited the museum on Friday, officials say. They say he took a piece of Wrigley's Extra Polar Ice gum out of his mouth and stuck it on Helen Frankenthaler's "The Bay," an abstract painting from 1963.

The museum acquired the work in 1965 and says it is worth about $1.5 million.

The gum stuck to the painting's lower left corner and did not adhere to the fiber of the canvas, officials told the Detroit Free Press. But it left a chemical residue about the size of a quarter, said Becky Hart, assistant curator of contemporary art.

The museum's conservation department is researching the chemicals in the gum to decide which solvent to use to clean it. The museum hopes to make the repair in two weeks and will keep "The Bay" on display in the meantime, she said.

"Our expectation is that the painting is going to be fine," Hart said.

Holly Academy director Julie Kildee said the boy had been suspended from the charter school and says his parents also have disciplined him.

"Even though we give very strict guidelines on proper behavior and we hold students to high standards, he is only 12 and I don't think he understood the ramifications of what he did before it happened, but he certainly understands the severity of it now," said Kildee.

It's Mr. E!

From one of my favorite episodes, Don't Touch That Dial.