Taking a week-long vacation... a much needed one, at that. I've been working so much that I'm hitting my "saturation point". where the information just starts accumulating so fast and becomes so dense that information starts 'leaking out' of my mind. even when I started taking copious notes things would sorta slip through the cracks. so I need some serious 'wind-down' time.
spent a lot of time house-cleaning, and... yeah, I don't feel "relaxed" quite yet. it still feels like a normal "weekend". probably by Tuesday it will really sink in: vacation
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Sunday, January 10, 2010
review of "Avatar" by James Cameron
set to the tune of the old French melody "Frere Jacques"
I am magic,
Magic Whitey
Here I Come
Here I Come
I will learn your ways
then will surely save you
since I'm great
White folks rule
Noble Savage
Noble Savage
much to learn
much to learn
can I from your ways
even though I'll save you
from your foes
from your foes
Native princess
Native princess
feisty and bold
strong of heart
just like all the others
you are nothing special
against my
manly charms
Evil Empire
Business Venture
lust for power
you worship cash
cardboard characters
with no depth
lazy writing
lazy writing
hateful soldier
evil soldier
workin for the Man
workin for the Man
chew up all that scenery
keep chewing that scenery
till you die
till you die
Native people
Native people
don't want guns
don't need guns
even though they're handy
even though they're handy
for hunting, killing enemies, protecting yourself against wild beasts that are friggin everywhere
you apparently' don't want guns because that would intefere with the directors vision of portraying you as noble savages.
I was planning on having the whole review set as a round on the tune of "Frere Jacques" but, y'know, I just had to break the flow of the music with that last verse. it made no sense at all! the Na'vi are just another boring caricature of idealized "natives", the "noble savage".
the movie spends all of 30 seconds with a video-clip where the main character explains that "we don't have anything that they want"
because James Cameron is a lazy writer who can't imagine how a bunch of tree-hugging Hippie natives wouldn't want modern technology that would include things like gun, motorized vehicles, power tools, and a host of other things that could make their lives so, so much easier. go read some history, Cameron, because the REAL natives from just about every country that has EVER encountered a modern colonial power (much like the evil 'Company') has ALWAYS wanted some modern technology. another thing, couldn't he have called it something besides 'the Company'?!?!? hell, he used the same name in "Aliens"... at least come up with something more descriptive and original than that!
seriously-- if the evil Company had bothered to offer the natives crappy guns it would have seemed like a good deal. they wouldn't even have to be as good as the guns they're using. but apparently Cameron is too lazy to think of things like "hey, let's trade with the Natives". is it too much to ask to offer the Na'vi SOMETHING in exchange for asking them to move? the Company isn't very clever hear-- and they don't practice a good business model. in fact, they don't ACT like a company with a business model-- no, they act more like a hyper-militaristic military state with colonial aspirations. thing is, the Na'vi allowed them to create a MASSIVE base of operations on that planet with apparently only a hodge-podge of resistance.
I'm not a big fan of "Magic Whitey" films-- which this film happily falls into the center of that tradition. it's basically a little bit of "Braveheart" and "Dances with Wolves" in space with just enough sci-fi trappings to keep it entertaining. although not as implicitly racist as "Dances with Wolves" (where the white guy learns the ways of the noble Indians and helps save them from the evil encroachments of white people) it still implies that a white man is the only thing that can stop other white men. at LEAST in "Avatar" we don't need to magically produce another equally magical and anachronistic white character to be his love-interest.
the Colonel is such a scenery-chewing parody it's kinda funny. and yet, ironically, he's one of the most likeable characters in the movie for me. he knows that his job is evil-- but he wants to get it done since he doesn't make empty promises (like a certain main character) or pretend to be something that he's not (like a certain scientist played by Sigourney Weaver). sure, he's NOT supposed to be likeable... but he goes out of his way to request that the main character gets his legs back. in fact, if the main character had, in fact, taken up the offer and gone back home when he was more or less ordered to-- the Colonel wouldn't have been that especially evil.
he, the Colonel, has been conditioned to treat the Na'vi as his mortal enemies-- he's not a good man, but conversely, I couldn't really hate him either. I'm clearly supposed to-- but I didn't really like ANY of the character in this movie all that much. they're all so 'by the numbers' and predictable that it was hard for me to emotionally invest in them.
it's not a bad film, not by any stretch of the imagination... I just don't think it's nearly as good as my co-workers and friends had led me to believe.
it LOOKS very good-- but after awhile it just sort numbs the senses. the 3D didn't make it any more amazing for me. I was told "you HAVE to see it in 3d" so I did. but, honestly, I found the 3d in "Coraline" to be more effective. it was used in short bursts here and there for dramatic effect.
I'll give it 6/10 because aside from the racist nature of the story itself along with the lazy, by-the-numbers script, I honestly didn't have any major complaints. directing, acting, pacing, special effects, all that stuff was pretty good.
I am magic,
Magic Whitey
Here I Come
Here I Come
I will learn your ways
then will surely save you
since I'm great
White folks rule
Noble Savage
Noble Savage
much to learn
much to learn
can I from your ways
even though I'll save you
from your foes
from your foes
Native princess
Native princess
feisty and bold
strong of heart
just like all the others
you are nothing special
against my
manly charms
Evil Empire
Business Venture
lust for power
you worship cash
cardboard characters
with no depth
lazy writing
lazy writing
hateful soldier
evil soldier
workin for the Man
workin for the Man
chew up all that scenery
keep chewing that scenery
till you die
till you die
Native people
Native people
don't want guns
don't need guns
even though they're handy
even though they're handy
for hunting, killing enemies, protecting yourself against wild beasts that are friggin everywhere
you apparently' don't want guns because that would intefere with the directors vision of portraying you as noble savages.
I was planning on having the whole review set as a round on the tune of "Frere Jacques" but, y'know, I just had to break the flow of the music with that last verse. it made no sense at all! the Na'vi are just another boring caricature of idealized "natives", the "noble savage".
the movie spends all of 30 seconds with a video-clip where the main character explains that "we don't have anything that they want"
because James Cameron is a lazy writer who can't imagine how a bunch of tree-hugging Hippie natives wouldn't want modern technology that would include things like gun, motorized vehicles, power tools, and a host of other things that could make their lives so, so much easier. go read some history, Cameron, because the REAL natives from just about every country that has EVER encountered a modern colonial power (much like the evil 'Company') has ALWAYS wanted some modern technology. another thing, couldn't he have called it something besides 'the Company'?!?!? hell, he used the same name in "Aliens"... at least come up with something more descriptive and original than that!
seriously-- if the evil Company had bothered to offer the natives crappy guns it would have seemed like a good deal. they wouldn't even have to be as good as the guns they're using. but apparently Cameron is too lazy to think of things like "hey, let's trade with the Natives". is it too much to ask to offer the Na'vi SOMETHING in exchange for asking them to move? the Company isn't very clever hear-- and they don't practice a good business model. in fact, they don't ACT like a company with a business model-- no, they act more like a hyper-militaristic military state with colonial aspirations. thing is, the Na'vi allowed them to create a MASSIVE base of operations on that planet with apparently only a hodge-podge of resistance.
I'm not a big fan of "Magic Whitey" films-- which this film happily falls into the center of that tradition. it's basically a little bit of "Braveheart" and "Dances with Wolves" in space with just enough sci-fi trappings to keep it entertaining. although not as implicitly racist as "Dances with Wolves" (where the white guy learns the ways of the noble Indians and helps save them from the evil encroachments of white people) it still implies that a white man is the only thing that can stop other white men. at LEAST in "Avatar" we don't need to magically produce another equally magical and anachronistic white character to be his love-interest.
the Colonel is such a scenery-chewing parody it's kinda funny. and yet, ironically, he's one of the most likeable characters in the movie for me. he knows that his job is evil-- but he wants to get it done since he doesn't make empty promises (like a certain main character) or pretend to be something that he's not (like a certain scientist played by Sigourney Weaver). sure, he's NOT supposed to be likeable... but he goes out of his way to request that the main character gets his legs back. in fact, if the main character had, in fact, taken up the offer and gone back home when he was more or less ordered to-- the Colonel wouldn't have been that especially evil.
he, the Colonel, has been conditioned to treat the Na'vi as his mortal enemies-- he's not a good man, but conversely, I couldn't really hate him either. I'm clearly supposed to-- but I didn't really like ANY of the character in this movie all that much. they're all so 'by the numbers' and predictable that it was hard for me to emotionally invest in them.
it's not a bad film, not by any stretch of the imagination... I just don't think it's nearly as good as my co-workers and friends had led me to believe.
it LOOKS very good-- but after awhile it just sort numbs the senses. the 3D didn't make it any more amazing for me. I was told "you HAVE to see it in 3d" so I did. but, honestly, I found the 3d in "Coraline" to be more effective. it was used in short bursts here and there for dramatic effect.
I'll give it 6/10 because aside from the racist nature of the story itself along with the lazy, by-the-numbers script, I honestly didn't have any major complaints. directing, acting, pacing, special effects, all that stuff was pretty good.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
IF YOU DON'T READ MY BLOG YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!!! SERIOUSLY!!!
I've noticed, over the years, that there are lot of emails out there where people get very bossy and demanding. Not only do they want you're undivided attention, they want the undivided attention of the entire universe. if you don't open the email you're part of the problem. if you don't read the email you're contributing to the collapse of socieity. if you don't agree with the email after reading it, it must be supposed that something is horribly wrong with you. and, finally, if you don't forward the email to everybody you've ever met or thought about meeting then you're complicit with the entire universe imploding in on itself and ceasing to exist.
I've included a few specimens to help clarify the issue. none of this stuff, to my knowledge, is copyrighted. I'm posting them here for the fair usage of ridiculing the self-importance of such emails.
for your reading enjoyment:
"Lastly, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this and think about it, and send it on - before it's too late."
" DO NOT DELETE WITHOUT READING ! "
"Read This - Important and if it gets your goat, kill the goat!"
"If this doesn't bother you then just delete the message. If, on theother hand, if it does raise the hair on the back of your neck, I hope youforward it to every legal resident in the country including every representative inWashington, D.C. - five times a week for as long as it takes to restoresome semblance of intelligence in our policies and enforcement thereof...."
"if you agree with this then pass it on"
"Now don't delete this message, because it comes from a veryspecial angel SOMEBODY NEEDS YOU TO SEND THIS TO THEM"
"Please don't delete this until you send it on. Everyone on the planet needs to read this."
"Think about this: If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone -- YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM! It is Time for America to Speak up. If you agree -- pass this along, if you don't agree --- delete it!"
"AND NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyber space, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces."
and, if you slackers didn't read this far... you guessed it...
YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM! :P
I've included a few specimens to help clarify the issue. none of this stuff, to my knowledge, is copyrighted. I'm posting them here for the fair usage of ridiculing the self-importance of such emails.
for your reading enjoyment:
"Lastly, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this and think about it, and send it on - before it's too late."
" DO NOT DELETE WITHOUT READING ! "
"Read This - Important and if it gets your goat, kill the goat!"
"If this doesn't bother you then just delete the message. If, on theother hand, if it does raise the hair on the back of your neck, I hope youforward it to every legal resident in the country including every representative inWashington, D.C. - five times a week for as long as it takes to restoresome semblance of intelligence in our policies and enforcement thereof...."
"if you agree with this then pass it on"
"Now don't delete this message, because it comes from a veryspecial angel SOMEBODY NEEDS YOU TO SEND THIS TO THEM"
"Please don't delete this until you send it on. Everyone on the planet needs to read this."
"Think about this: If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone -- YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM! It is Time for America to Speak up. If you agree -- pass this along, if you don't agree --- delete it!"
"AND NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyber space, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces."
and, if you slackers didn't read this far... you guessed it...
YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM! :P
Saturday, September 12, 2009
"9"
so, I watched this film with Jeremiah this morning.
it LOOKED nice. I enjoyed the character designs, which have oft been described as "stitch-punk", which I guess makes an allusion to "steam-punk" or something.
but the writing was sloppy-- only the most thread-bare attempt at describing how humanity was overthrown by machines was explained. that still does absolutely nothing to explain why all of the machines are based on animals and use an odd mixture of cloth, metal, and animal parts.
the plot, if there IS one, involved rediscovering a magical artifact that will solve everything. the characters are fairly one-dimensional-- although the acting was passably good for such thinly written characters.
it was hard to care about any of the characters. this story has been done over and over again a thousand times before-- and there's nothing to make this post-apocalyptic 'survivor' movie interesting apart from it's CGI animated aesthetics. the machine has no motivation at all, other than to erradicate everything that moves apart from itself. at least with "WALL-E" we could see that the movie's main antagonist was acting in accordance with its programming and directives. it wasn't trying to be an evil monster-- it was simply acting in the only logical way it could-- within it's limited pre-programmed understanding. I must follow orders, and my primary order is to keep everybody away from Earth.
"9" doesn't really have any of that. you can't call it a voyage of self-discovery--because the main character learns almost nothing about himself or the others. this movie should have been much better than it was-- but the ideas were so pedestrian that it needed to be rescued by great artwork and animation-- and it just wasn't that fantastic. not good enough to justify watching this movie ever again.
it was frustratingly dull in the same way that "Terminator Salvation" was dull-- this was like "Terminator Salvation" with half-stitched muppets. you'd think that "Terminator" meets Muppets would be awesome--but no such luck!
oh well, at least it was only a matinee price.
it LOOKED nice. I enjoyed the character designs, which have oft been described as "stitch-punk", which I guess makes an allusion to "steam-punk" or something.
but the writing was sloppy-- only the most thread-bare attempt at describing how humanity was overthrown by machines was explained. that still does absolutely nothing to explain why all of the machines are based on animals and use an odd mixture of cloth, metal, and animal parts.
the plot, if there IS one, involved rediscovering a magical artifact that will solve everything. the characters are fairly one-dimensional-- although the acting was passably good for such thinly written characters.
it was hard to care about any of the characters. this story has been done over and over again a thousand times before-- and there's nothing to make this post-apocalyptic 'survivor' movie interesting apart from it's CGI animated aesthetics. the machine has no motivation at all, other than to erradicate everything that moves apart from itself. at least with "WALL-E" we could see that the movie's main antagonist was acting in accordance with its programming and directives. it wasn't trying to be an evil monster-- it was simply acting in the only logical way it could-- within it's limited pre-programmed understanding. I must follow orders, and my primary order is to keep everybody away from Earth.
"9" doesn't really have any of that. you can't call it a voyage of self-discovery--because the main character learns almost nothing about himself or the others. this movie should have been much better than it was-- but the ideas were so pedestrian that it needed to be rescued by great artwork and animation-- and it just wasn't that fantastic. not good enough to justify watching this movie ever again.
it was frustratingly dull in the same way that "Terminator Salvation" was dull-- this was like "Terminator Salvation" with half-stitched muppets. you'd think that "Terminator" meets Muppets would be awesome--but no such luck!
oh well, at least it was only a matinee price.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Snoopy and the Red Baron
so, out of nostalgia I ordered a copy of this book online. got it in the mail yesterday. it's not a great book, by any means. it doesn't have a plot--it's mostly a series of vignettes or episodes strung together in a hap-hazzardly "chronological" manner. I read through the whole thing (for the hundredth time, probably) in about three minutes. but it's still fun.
I forgot about the colored pages... which at first I wasn't so sure of, but I remembered that the book I read as a child also had black line-work and lettering on variously colored pages.
it's kinda funny. when I was a kid I absolutely loathed nostalgia. the idea of fondly remembering time pasts always seemed to be associated with this romantic notion of the past being inherently glorious and wonderful than the present. the idea of "the old days were better than these" seemed a foolish and destructive way of thinking. it also seemed to be wholly irrational and sentimental in nature.
so, here I am, purchasing a copy of a book that I loved as a child. and while it retains the shadow of it's former charm--it clearly does not enthrall me in the way that it once did. it is now not so "awesome" as it is "charming" or "cute"... perhap even "quaint".
but it's also worth remembering that Charles Schultz was something of a revolutionary in the sphere of comics in that he even granted a dog the liberty of having an imagination! that a ordinary, if you could dare to call Snoopy that much, dog could have wild and bizarre fantasies of being a romantic warrior-knight of the air.
Schultz was obviously influenced by the plethora of purple prose narratives and novels released during the Inter-War period. oddly enough, this book had no impact on my choosing the path of an amateur WWI aviation 'historian' (for lack of a better word, I like to research this historical stuff for fun).
nah, the main influence towards me pursuing this path was a video game released way back called "Red Baron" that got the ball rolling.
but... more on this kinda stuff later
I forgot about the colored pages... which at first I wasn't so sure of, but I remembered that the book I read as a child also had black line-work and lettering on variously colored pages.
it's kinda funny. when I was a kid I absolutely loathed nostalgia. the idea of fondly remembering time pasts always seemed to be associated with this romantic notion of the past being inherently glorious and wonderful than the present. the idea of "the old days were better than these" seemed a foolish and destructive way of thinking. it also seemed to be wholly irrational and sentimental in nature.
so, here I am, purchasing a copy of a book that I loved as a child. and while it retains the shadow of it's former charm--it clearly does not enthrall me in the way that it once did. it is now not so "awesome" as it is "charming" or "cute"... perhap even "quaint".
but it's also worth remembering that Charles Schultz was something of a revolutionary in the sphere of comics in that he even granted a dog the liberty of having an imagination! that a ordinary, if you could dare to call Snoopy that much, dog could have wild and bizarre fantasies of being a romantic warrior-knight of the air.
Schultz was obviously influenced by the plethora of purple prose narratives and novels released during the Inter-War period. oddly enough, this book had no impact on my choosing the path of an amateur WWI aviation 'historian' (for lack of a better word, I like to research this historical stuff for fun).
nah, the main influence towards me pursuing this path was a video game released way back called "Red Baron" that got the ball rolling.
but... more on this kinda stuff later
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
what I'm reading right now:
"Pride and Prejudice"
this book is a lot of fun. it's hard to wrap my head around the language at times, but I can infer what is being said after reading through things twice.
"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"
not quite as fun as the original--but still pretty entertaining. the original Jane Austen is actually more amusing for me. in spite of the claims to the contrary on the back of this book!
"All Quiet on the Western Front"
this is supposedly the greatest novel about WWI ever written (I'll get to some of the others later)... and while I'm enjoying this book a great deal... I find myself at odds with some of the rather vacant theories being put forth by the narrator! the idea that somehow one generation is intrinsically more trustworthy and honest than another is something that only a foolish and ridiculous young man or women could come up with. even when I was in the midst of puberty and all-knowingness I never once imagined that my generation was somehow wiser and superior to all preceeding generations-- but, this appears to be a fairly common assumption on the part of some young people in every generation.
"Pride and Prejudice"
this book is a lot of fun. it's hard to wrap my head around the language at times, but I can infer what is being said after reading through things twice.
"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"
not quite as fun as the original--but still pretty entertaining. the original Jane Austen is actually more amusing for me. in spite of the claims to the contrary on the back of this book!
"All Quiet on the Western Front"
this is supposedly the greatest novel about WWI ever written (I'll get to some of the others later)... and while I'm enjoying this book a great deal... I find myself at odds with some of the rather vacant theories being put forth by the narrator! the idea that somehow one generation is intrinsically more trustworthy and honest than another is something that only a foolish and ridiculous young man or women could come up with. even when I was in the midst of puberty and all-knowingness I never once imagined that my generation was somehow wiser and superior to all preceeding generations-- but, this appears to be a fairly common assumption on the part of some young people in every generation.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
I'm not much of a blogger--and I'm never going to be one of those thorough and systematic philosophers. I'm too busy working my day job or creating stuff to be a good scholar.
I look at myself now and see a second rate artist, third rate composer, and a fourth rate scholar-- I'm am amateur at everything... and I guess I don't feel especially bad about it. I use amateur in the best possible sense of that word, knowing that it has terrible connotations as well.
finished working 12 days in a row this last Friday--and I'm STILL pretty tired! I think Friday ended up being 13 consecutive hours of labor punctuated by a 15 minute break and a 40 minute lunch. I can't even remember if we took the last break or not. it doesn't bother me either way-- we got the job done. that's the important thing.
I don't see my job as just some mundane or boring thing-- I feel as though it's important to do things well. I've always tried approaching work as though there's no such thing as an unimportant or worthless task. if you're there to work, do it well, even if you don't like it. don't just stand there if you've finished one task, try to go out and find something else-- if there's really THAT little to be done at work I usually head straight for home and work on some music or artwork.
I find myself torn between two desires this weekend-- to start working on some more personal creative projects, or to just bum around the house and sleep!
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