He's got Zombie Bettie Davis eyes...
I've tried to keep this blog from turning into a baby-fest since my son was born last October, but I figured that if I put up some stuff that didn't fall into the "gersh-dern he's a ray of sunshine" category, few would mind, especially if they were either amusing or insightful. No promises on that (I'm a poor judge of my own mental products), but here's a few things I've noticed since Josh arrived:
- Things that are used to eliminate foul substances and leave a "clean" smell now smell foul due to guilt by association.
- Stuff that's below waist-level on shelves or tables was once "clutter." Now it's separated into two categories: "He'll hurt himself with that so I should move it," and "it won't kill him or me if he gnaws that to bits."
- There are mythical Sirens living in open dishwashers that sing songs only infants can hear, trying to lure them into a sudsy doom.
- But they're nothing compared to the one living in toilets with the lid up.
- There's a fine line between being proud your kid will intensely study or play with a toy for a good stretch and the beginnings of concern over Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
- This is followed by wondering what your parents must have thought when you played "Asteroids" on your Atari 2600 long enough to flip the score counter.
- Art class simulation: An empty beverage bottle you've drained is embraced by your kid as the awesomest toy ever. Put colored water in it to increase the awesomeness and the child would rather get his temperature taken than play with it. Critics.
- Stephen Fry fascinates 11-month-olds. I don't know why. All I know is that if the kid is fidgety and not wanting to eat, a video of "Q.I." gets his rapt attention and he'll eat whatever I toss in his mouth without complaint.
So he's coming along okay thus far. A friend recommended I show him "Baby Einstein" videos next, but I want to see what he does when I pop a "Cosmos" DvD in for him to watch. I'd so love it if, when he eventually goes to school, he's asked what the first step in any project is, he replies, "first, you must invent the universe." :)
Turning to film, I haven't seen "Machette," and I don't rate films for how hot-or-not the actors are (f'rinstance, I'd rather see a competent person in a role instead of Meagan Fox), but with that said, here's an interesting use of CGI technology: Jessica Alba's nude scene in the movie (this link is safe for work, though the links on the page leading to coverage elsewhere may not be) was digital. This isn't the first time computers have been used to "fix" movies at the behest of actors (If I remember correctly, William Shatner in "Star Trek IV" and Julia Roberts in "Hook" both had their posteriors scaled down in post-production), and body doubles were hardly uncommon. It seems rather fitting, as a species, what parts of people we're picking to virtulaize first on our way to eventually using purely digital actors. I'm guessing this kind of tech will also (if it's not doing so already) clean up blemishes and imperfections that would be highly noticeable on high-definition TV. It makes me wonder if it will give us an even more unrealistic level of expected perfection from real people, or if it will make imperfection all that more attractive?
Speaking of visual imperfections, if anyone remembers this syndicated TV horror, then you'll probably get queasy when I mention that NBC is remaking "The Munsters." This would normally be cause for consulting Mayan calendars to see if they mentioned the pilot episode... except Bryan "Pushing Daisies" Fuller and Guillermo "Hellboy" del Toro are involved. I think my mind is trying to divide by zero on this one...
In TV shows that are currently airing, "Fringe" continues to have some interesting dramatics going on with Olivia's extra-dimensional double (being dubbed Fauxlivia by fans), who had some surprises that deviated a little from what I was expecting. She isn't becoming sentimental and turning towards the "good" side (as we see when she disposes of a 'loose end'), which is kind of refreshing. However, given the effects of the object of everyone's interest in the episode, I thought just being deaf offering protection from its effects was anti-climactic; I was hoping that the person who didn't die hideously had some special "gift" that might make him a more interesting character. Still, two of the later scenes (which I dub "pop!" and "holy Wall Street") were pretty good.
And "Stargate: Universe" changed nights on me (it was originally on Friday, wasn't it?), but the trusty DVR was smarter than I was and snagged it for me. It wrapped up the cliffhanger from last season well enough, but one thing bugs me: Is this show trying to be "Star Trek: Voyager," but doing it right? It hit me when we wound up with two factions on board (discounting the fact that we kind of had two already, but hey), the "good guys" from Earth and the "bad guys" they kind of defeated. I'm guessing they'll all become one crew at some point (I know fans are rooting for the new redhead to stick around) much as the Maquis did on "Voyager." I always thought the Maquis and the Star Fleet crew came together awfully quickly after basically trying to kill each other, and the tension from that rarely surfaced significantly. Now, we've got another show about a lost crew far from home made up of people who are at odds. I hope the writers on SGU can pull this off without glossing everything over with the colonel saying "we're all in this together, so no more fighting" and that's the end of it. If they bring in a single character from a previously hostile race as a crew member (like a Wraith), then we know we're pretty much hosed.
I can't believe I'm starting the weekend linkdump with shoes and a fashion show, but...
- I ran across a photo of a shoe (yes, a shoe) that I was compelled to track down. It turned out it was the work of one Alexander McQueen who, sadly, passed away back in February. I say sadly because his fashion shows look like he'd make sequel to the 5th Element quite awesome. Scroll down 'till you see the three footwear samples. It was the middle one looking like H.R. Giger's "Alien" that made me scare up this guy's trippy work.
- I think I might have posted this link a long time ago, but the library of MP3 weirdness has grown since then: Strange audio from April Winchell. Some things might be offensive (they're usually labeled) and the language on the page has the occasional blue word, so keep that in mind. It also has an MP3 of my all-time most disturbing song: "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" sung by Ed McMahon.
- At first, it was only in Abu Dhabi, now ATMs that dispense gold bars are coming to Las Vegas, among other places. How long before one is found with a chain wrapped around it attached to a torn-away fender from a limousine?
- Take a break and play Notebook Wars. It's a standard shoot-em-up, but the hand drawn graphics are quite charming. Try not to think how future generations will probably have actual paper that animates your doodles like this.
- Real life is such a killjoy. It turns out that employing the common video game tactic of running backwards and shooting a shotgun at a target is probably a bad idea.
- The San Diego Comic Con is going to stay in San Diego until 2015. An editor I know can still rub my nose in the fact that he lives less than ten miles away and doesn't need a hotel.
- Because they always show up, the wild west video game "Red Dead Redemption" is getting zombies. And yes, there's a trailer.
- A planet in an Earth-like distance from its sun has been discovered 42 light-years away. Which means this planet is the ultimate planet of life, the universe and everything, right?
- Iran has unveiled a bunch of flying speedboats with machine guns and missiles as part of its "purchasing military hardware from Destro" initiative. They're even colored blue and red, for cryin' "YO JOE" out loud.
- To combat such nefarious hardware, be sure to follow this link from Alert Reader Joel and get the most advanced vehicle for combating villainy ever known! Though as you can see in the later pictures, it's always embarrassing to show up driving the same car as everyone else.
- There's a new trailer for people-grabbin' alien movie "Skyline" right here. I'll be interested to hear if any explanation is given for the invasion and why their technology seems both highly sophisticated yet less-than-surgical for what it appears to be for. Of course, all sentient life might get a kick out of squishing stuff, so what do I know?
- Enough with the games involving making shapes happy. In Spite Cannon, you earn money by knocking them off the screen with cannonballs.