No, no, this is not a post in defense of dictators. But it is a mean ol' gripe towards the CTA.
Today it took me 2 hours to get to work. No, really, no exaggeration. I am dependent on public transportation because I do not own a car, nor do I want one or could even afford one if I did. The trains have been unbearably slow lately, meaning the last six months. When we first moved to our current place, it took me about 30 minutes to get to work. The distance is about 5 miles, which in the city might as well be 20 miles. Over the last year or so, the length of time has gotten longer and longer. For the last month, it's been about an hour. In the last two weeks, the trains have been so erratic that I have been opting some days to take a cab at $25 a ride just so that I can guarantee when I'll get to work.
The trains have been plagued with problems. The opening of the so-called Pink Line has made things worse by increasing traffic on tracks that are already overused. Meanwhile, the CTA has been trying to renovate so many stations and tracks at once that the trains can't move as quickly through bottleneck areas like the stretch between Belmont and Fullerton. On top of this, there have been more power outages at stations, fires and track damage. And then there is just the sad events like the one that happened today: accidents or worse, people purposely doing harm to themselves by jumping in front of trains.
I honestly don't know what to do. Normally I could switch to a different train line, but all of them are doing poorly. I am considering taking a bus, but I fear that everyone else tired of the trains will be switching to the bus lines and put strain on those as well. Plus, no one can guarantee what traffic is going to be like on Lake Shore Drive on any given day.
If I have to leave the house two hours early just to make it to work on time, I am going to be one angry little person.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Heroes - Episode 1 (pilot)
Heroes
Airs Mondays at 8PM (Central) on NBC
I have to admit I was skeptical about Heroes, a new television show from Tim Kring, a creative force behind "Crossing Jordan." Although I�ll watch Crossing Jordan, it isn�t a great television show and the plot tends to go from one silly episode to the next. And the beginning of the pilot was not auspicious. Mohinder Suresh, a genetics professor teaching in India, learns of his father�s death. In heavy-handed dialogue with a colleague, we learn that:
1. Mohinder�s father was a geneticist with unconventional theories.
2. Because of his theories, he left or was asked to leave academic life.
3. He eventually moved to New York City and became a cab driver.
4. Mohinder believes in his father�s research and is willing to throw away his own career to continue in his footsteps.
This is a pretty standard SciFi convention: a son or daughter of a brilliant but insane and/or radical scientist takes up his or her parent�s (usually a father) research and pursuit of �Forbidden Knowledge.� I realize it�s not original, but it certainly is expedient and gets the viewer immediately into the story.
As an aside, the theory deals with genetics, specifically in evolution. There are theories about evolution that it actually happens in huge leaps, rather than slowly over time. Individuals of a species mutate so significantly that they are fundamentally different from their counterparts. Those with beneficial mutations survive to pass on their genes to their offspring, thus radically altering the evolution of a species. Sound familiar to you comic book geeks? Yes, it�s the same premise used in the X-Men comics.
The story thus far:
Mohinder goes to his father�s apartment and discovers someone has torn it apart looking for his research. He gathers up what he can find, but hears a cellphone ring. A man is still the next room; Mohinder quietly takes what is most important and flees to New York. There he finds his father�s apartment and takes up his occupation of cab driver.
Peter Petrelli is a nurse who is currently taking care of a dying man. Peter has been having dreams that he can fly. He tries to explain this to his brother, Nathan, a politician running for Congress. Nathan is self-centered and egotistical and brushes Peter off as a dreamer. Later Nathan receives a call that their mother has been arrested for shoplifting. Nathan scolds her, but Peter defends her, saying she is lonely and lost since their father died. In spite of Nathan�s coldness towards her, she makes it clear that Nathan is favorite son and berates Peter for his choice of career. Both Nathan and she remind him that Nathan�s shadow is very large, meaning that Peter will always be overshadowed by his more charismatic brother. Peter, however, hero-worships his brother and believes they have some deeper connection.
Peter has fallen for the dying man�s beautiful daughter, Simone, but she is involved with a painter with a drug habit. She visits her boyfriend, Isaac, and finds him distraught and destroying his paintings. She tries to stop him, but he is too agitated and says that they are evil. He shows her one of a bus in flames and tells her he painted it three weeks ago. On the news that day, he saw a picture of the same bus, the target of a bombing in Israel. There are other disturbing pictures, including one of the solar eclipse that will happen later that day. Simone realizes he is going through withdrawal and needs something to calm him and goes to her father�s house to get morphine. She persuades Peter to come with her and they find Isaac unconscious. Peter gives him emergency aid while Simone calls an ambulance. Peter notices that one of the paintings is of a fire being shown on the news right that moment.
Claire Bennet is a popular cheerleader who asks a friend to videotape her falling from an 80 foot drop. Though he is thrilled at her ability to heal nearly instantaneously, she feels like a freak and asks him not to tell anyone. Later, they stumble on a burning factory and she impetuously runs inside (it seems like Claire is determined to destroy herself). She finds a man trapped inside and she rescues him.
Meanwhile a single mother, Niki, works as an online stripper to support her young, gifted son. She notices something that disturbs her, that her reflection in the mirror seems to be a fraction slower or makes faces at her. She has borrowed $25,000 from a loan shark to make a donation to a special school, but is unable to pay the tuition and he is rejected. Niki takes her son to a friend�s house for safety, then goes back to her house to get her things. Unable to get the donation back or make payments on the loan, the shark sends thugs to her house. In a rather horrible scene, the men ask Niki to strip for them and then become violent when she doesn�t perform to their satisfaction. She is knocked unconscious and when she wakes, the house is full of blood. The thugs are dead. In a broken mirror, her reflection puts a finger to its lips, signing to her not to tell anyone.
Hiro, an office worker in Japan, longs to be different. He sits at his desk and wills a clock to stop. It does for 1 second. Hiro rejoices and runs to tell his co-worker the good news. A geek through and through, Hiro talks to his coworker using Star Trek references and explains that he also made the train 14 seconds late this morning. With practice, he hopes to use his power to teleport. His friend is not just skeptical, but also dismisses Hiro as a geek and hopelessly weird. That night over beers, he taunts Hiro and before leaving for the restroom himself, he tells Hiro to use the power to teleport into the women�s washroom. When he gets back, Hiro is being removed by bouncers. As they walk away from the bar, he tells Hiro to be normal.
Mohinder encounters the Man with the Glasses who had been searching his father�s apartment when he gets into Mohinder�s cab. He so spooked by the meeting that Mohinder stops the car and runs away.
Hiro decides one morning to try to teleport. He closes his eyes and concentrates and when opens them, he�s in Times Square in New York.
Peter asks his brother to meet him in an alley. He climbs to the top of the building. Sure he will fly, he jumps. He falls. Suddenly, Nathan rises, flying up to catch his brother and bring him safely to the ground.
After surviving and healing completely from several alarming accidents, Claire asks her mother to tell her who her real parents are. The Man with the Glasses enters their house; he is Claire�s (adoptive?) father.
My thoughts: A good opening episode. All of this would sound trite except that it is actually done well. After the initial dialogue problems, the characters start to sound like real humans, not plot expositions. There are real moments of tension, fear and wonder: Claire resetting her bones after a fall, Niki being menaced by a loan shark�s thugs, Hiro successfully teleporting himself from Tokyo to New York. Sure, the special effects look good, but there are elements to the story that are intriguing. What is the significance of the eclipse? What is the catastrophe Isaac has painted? And how does a comic book called 9th Wonders have to do with all of this?
One prediction � Peter�s power is actually his belief in his brother; that is, his belief and love for his brother gives his brother the ability to fly or other superpowers.
Airs Mondays at 8PM (Central) on NBC
I have to admit I was skeptical about Heroes, a new television show from Tim Kring, a creative force behind "Crossing Jordan." Although I�ll watch Crossing Jordan, it isn�t a great television show and the plot tends to go from one silly episode to the next. And the beginning of the pilot was not auspicious. Mohinder Suresh, a genetics professor teaching in India, learns of his father�s death. In heavy-handed dialogue with a colleague, we learn that:
1. Mohinder�s father was a geneticist with unconventional theories.
2. Because of his theories, he left or was asked to leave academic life.
3. He eventually moved to New York City and became a cab driver.
4. Mohinder believes in his father�s research and is willing to throw away his own career to continue in his footsteps.
This is a pretty standard SciFi convention: a son or daughter of a brilliant but insane and/or radical scientist takes up his or her parent�s (usually a father) research and pursuit of �Forbidden Knowledge.� I realize it�s not original, but it certainly is expedient and gets the viewer immediately into the story.
As an aside, the theory deals with genetics, specifically in evolution. There are theories about evolution that it actually happens in huge leaps, rather than slowly over time. Individuals of a species mutate so significantly that they are fundamentally different from their counterparts. Those with beneficial mutations survive to pass on their genes to their offspring, thus radically altering the evolution of a species. Sound familiar to you comic book geeks? Yes, it�s the same premise used in the X-Men comics.
The story thus far:
Mohinder goes to his father�s apartment and discovers someone has torn it apart looking for his research. He gathers up what he can find, but hears a cellphone ring. A man is still the next room; Mohinder quietly takes what is most important and flees to New York. There he finds his father�s apartment and takes up his occupation of cab driver.
Peter Petrelli is a nurse who is currently taking care of a dying man. Peter has been having dreams that he can fly. He tries to explain this to his brother, Nathan, a politician running for Congress. Nathan is self-centered and egotistical and brushes Peter off as a dreamer. Later Nathan receives a call that their mother has been arrested for shoplifting. Nathan scolds her, but Peter defends her, saying she is lonely and lost since their father died. In spite of Nathan�s coldness towards her, she makes it clear that Nathan is favorite son and berates Peter for his choice of career. Both Nathan and she remind him that Nathan�s shadow is very large, meaning that Peter will always be overshadowed by his more charismatic brother. Peter, however, hero-worships his brother and believes they have some deeper connection.
Peter has fallen for the dying man�s beautiful daughter, Simone, but she is involved with a painter with a drug habit. She visits her boyfriend, Isaac, and finds him distraught and destroying his paintings. She tries to stop him, but he is too agitated and says that they are evil. He shows her one of a bus in flames and tells her he painted it three weeks ago. On the news that day, he saw a picture of the same bus, the target of a bombing in Israel. There are other disturbing pictures, including one of the solar eclipse that will happen later that day. Simone realizes he is going through withdrawal and needs something to calm him and goes to her father�s house to get morphine. She persuades Peter to come with her and they find Isaac unconscious. Peter gives him emergency aid while Simone calls an ambulance. Peter notices that one of the paintings is of a fire being shown on the news right that moment.
Claire Bennet is a popular cheerleader who asks a friend to videotape her falling from an 80 foot drop. Though he is thrilled at her ability to heal nearly instantaneously, she feels like a freak and asks him not to tell anyone. Later, they stumble on a burning factory and she impetuously runs inside (it seems like Claire is determined to destroy herself). She finds a man trapped inside and she rescues him.
Meanwhile a single mother, Niki, works as an online stripper to support her young, gifted son. She notices something that disturbs her, that her reflection in the mirror seems to be a fraction slower or makes faces at her. She has borrowed $25,000 from a loan shark to make a donation to a special school, but is unable to pay the tuition and he is rejected. Niki takes her son to a friend�s house for safety, then goes back to her house to get her things. Unable to get the donation back or make payments on the loan, the shark sends thugs to her house. In a rather horrible scene, the men ask Niki to strip for them and then become violent when she doesn�t perform to their satisfaction. She is knocked unconscious and when she wakes, the house is full of blood. The thugs are dead. In a broken mirror, her reflection puts a finger to its lips, signing to her not to tell anyone.
Hiro, an office worker in Japan, longs to be different. He sits at his desk and wills a clock to stop. It does for 1 second. Hiro rejoices and runs to tell his co-worker the good news. A geek through and through, Hiro talks to his coworker using Star Trek references and explains that he also made the train 14 seconds late this morning. With practice, he hopes to use his power to teleport. His friend is not just skeptical, but also dismisses Hiro as a geek and hopelessly weird. That night over beers, he taunts Hiro and before leaving for the restroom himself, he tells Hiro to use the power to teleport into the women�s washroom. When he gets back, Hiro is being removed by bouncers. As they walk away from the bar, he tells Hiro to be normal.
Mohinder encounters the Man with the Glasses who had been searching his father�s apartment when he gets into Mohinder�s cab. He so spooked by the meeting that Mohinder stops the car and runs away.
Hiro decides one morning to try to teleport. He closes his eyes and concentrates and when opens them, he�s in Times Square in New York.
Peter asks his brother to meet him in an alley. He climbs to the top of the building. Sure he will fly, he jumps. He falls. Suddenly, Nathan rises, flying up to catch his brother and bring him safely to the ground.
After surviving and healing completely from several alarming accidents, Claire asks her mother to tell her who her real parents are. The Man with the Glasses enters their house; he is Claire�s (adoptive?) father.
My thoughts: A good opening episode. All of this would sound trite except that it is actually done well. After the initial dialogue problems, the characters start to sound like real humans, not plot expositions. There are real moments of tension, fear and wonder: Claire resetting her bones after a fall, Niki being menaced by a loan shark�s thugs, Hiro successfully teleporting himself from Tokyo to New York. Sure, the special effects look good, but there are elements to the story that are intriguing. What is the significance of the eclipse? What is the catastrophe Isaac has painted? And how does a comic book called 9th Wonders have to do with all of this?
One prediction � Peter�s power is actually his belief in his brother; that is, his belief and love for his brother gives his brother the ability to fly or other superpowers.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Boardgames for broke and bored
I love games and I love getting together with friends to play all sorts of games. Usually we play RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons, but occasionally we need the fun and ease boardgames can provide. Oh sure, you can always bust out the Star Wars Monopoly set or Clue, but sometimes you're in the mood for something different. Enter Cheapass Games:
http://www.cheapass.com/
Cheapass Games makes unusual boardgames that are easy to learn, challenging and fun. Take for example Kill Doctor Lucky: this game plays like a reverse Clue, where all of the players try to kill off the good doctor as he moves through an old mansion. All of the games are extraordinarily cheap; most are less than $10, though even a good number of those are under $5. And as a bonus, most of the games can be completed in an hour or less.
However, if you're on an even tighter budget, you can simply download and print boardgames from Game-it Yourself:
http://www.runestoneit.com/~dseagraves/board_games.html
The downloads give you the rules and a board if appropriate and you use whatever coins, tokens, toys, dice or Lego brick you might have lying around. Most of the games are free, though a few now charge a nominal fee for download.
http://www.cheapass.com/
Cheapass Games makes unusual boardgames that are easy to learn, challenging and fun. Take for example Kill Doctor Lucky: this game plays like a reverse Clue, where all of the players try to kill off the good doctor as he moves through an old mansion. All of the games are extraordinarily cheap; most are less than $10, though even a good number of those are under $5. And as a bonus, most of the games can be completed in an hour or less.
However, if you're on an even tighter budget, you can simply download and print boardgames from Game-it Yourself:
http://www.runestoneit.com/~dseagraves/board_games.html
The downloads give you the rules and a board if appropriate and you use whatever coins, tokens, toys, dice or Lego brick you might have lying around. Most of the games are free, though a few now charge a nominal fee for download.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
More Cinema on the Web
Is it an art film or simply special effects shots strung together?
http://www.wehavedecidednottodie.com/preview.html
No matter what you decide, you have to admit that the film entitled We Have Decided Not to Die is an extraordinary piece of film making. Only a snippet is available online, but there are some disquieting images to be found. I'm not sure how I feel about it: some of it seems like a great deal of simply showing off, especially since there doesn't seem to be any context (read:story) for the images. I'm not saying that a film has to have a narrative in order to be good or entertaining or art (or anything for that matter), but just showing me some fantastic CGI, editing or other film tricks doesn't make it automatically good or entertaining or art either.
Do me a favor though. Just watch the preview and don't read the interview. Once a film teacher told our class that if the film maker has to explain his work, then he has failed as a film maker. He can't go to every screening and answer the questions of the audience members. Either the film speaks for itself or it doesn't. If you feel like you must read the interview, wait until after you've seen the preview, so that you can decide for yourself what the film is about and whether or not you think the film maker has done his job.
http://www.wehavedecidednottodie.com/preview.html
No matter what you decide, you have to admit that the film entitled We Have Decided Not to Die is an extraordinary piece of film making. Only a snippet is available online, but there are some disquieting images to be found. I'm not sure how I feel about it: some of it seems like a great deal of simply showing off, especially since there doesn't seem to be any context (read:story) for the images. I'm not saying that a film has to have a narrative in order to be good or entertaining or art (or anything for that matter), but just showing me some fantastic CGI, editing or other film tricks doesn't make it automatically good or entertaining or art either.
Do me a favor though. Just watch the preview and don't read the interview. Once a film teacher told our class that if the film maker has to explain his work, then he has failed as a film maker. He can't go to every screening and answer the questions of the audience members. Either the film speaks for itself or it doesn't. If you feel like you must read the interview, wait until after you've seen the preview, so that you can decide for yourself what the film is about and whether or not you think the film maker has done his job.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
No, my phone number really doesn't spell anything
I thought this was a fun site: enter a number (as in, your telephone number) and see what it spells based on the letters on the keypad:
http://www.phonespell.com/phoneSpell.html
How disappointing though that the four telephone numbers I entered didn't really spell anything.
http://www.phonespell.com/phoneSpell.html
How disappointing though that the four telephone numbers I entered didn't really spell anything.
There's no excuse not to read...
Here's my newest favorite site/service:
Daily Lit
Browse from 200 titles of classic literature from Dante Aligheri to Emile Zola and sign up to have a book (or two) sent to you by email. The book isn't sent all at once, but in manageable chunks at the time of day and frequency (every day, every week day, etc.) you specify. A "manageable chunk" is about a page of text, not much more than a long email, and because it's plain text, it's easy on the eyes.
Right now I'm reading Leaves of Grass by Walt Witman and Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie. It's a nice break in the middle of my day and takes no more than ten minutes or so to enjoy. I probably waste more time writing this journal.
Daily Lit
Browse from 200 titles of classic literature from Dante Aligheri to Emile Zola and sign up to have a book (or two) sent to you by email. The book isn't sent all at once, but in manageable chunks at the time of day and frequency (every day, every week day, etc.) you specify. A "manageable chunk" is about a page of text, not much more than a long email, and because it's plain text, it's easy on the eyes.
Right now I'm reading Leaves of Grass by Walt Witman and Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie. It's a nice break in the middle of my day and takes no more than ten minutes or so to enjoy. I probably waste more time writing this journal.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Cinema on the Web Part Three
A short post about short films:
http://www.filminute.com/vote/index.php
I came across this site just today and was excited to find so many short films in one place. All of the films are about 1 minute in length or less and fall into different categories; I was really please to see one-minute documentaries, for example. AND, the viewers get to vote for their favorite until 30 September, 2006.
Watch the films (it should take less than a half hour) and vote!
http://www.filminute.com/vote/index.php
I came across this site just today and was excited to find so many short films in one place. All of the films are about 1 minute in length or less and fall into different categories; I was really please to see one-minute documentaries, for example. AND, the viewers get to vote for their favorite until 30 September, 2006.
Watch the films (it should take less than a half hour) and vote!
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Cinema on the Web Part Two
I have a few more sites to show you today.
This isn't film so much as a very clever and entertaining interactive Flash animation:
http://www.changar.com/archives/go.html
This is a new take on the animation following your mouse pointer - a crazy rabbit thinks it's a carrot and hijinx follow. I could play with this for hours.
Take the videogame, The Sims, and set it in a 1920s Hollywood movie studio. Hire actors, buy props and costumes, build sets. Then, give your users the ability to write and animate their own films with your software. Welcome to the wonderful, weird world of The Movies:
http://movies.lionhead.com/
Using the Sandbox utility, game addicts can create their own movies to trade with others. The official site of the game (the URL above) has several interesting, funny or just plain weird little videos, but you can often find them by Googling "machinima" (the term used for movies made using videogame engines). Another good example is a fairly good horror film called Dracula's Guest on this site:
http://www.candlelightstories.com/movies.asp
This isn't film so much as a very clever and entertaining interactive Flash animation:
http://www.changar.com/archives/go.html
This is a new take on the animation following your mouse pointer - a crazy rabbit thinks it's a carrot and hijinx follow. I could play with this for hours.
Take the videogame, The Sims, and set it in a 1920s Hollywood movie studio. Hire actors, buy props and costumes, build sets. Then, give your users the ability to write and animate their own films with your software. Welcome to the wonderful, weird world of The Movies:
http://movies.lionhead.com/
Using the Sandbox utility, game addicts can create their own movies to trade with others. The official site of the game (the URL above) has several interesting, funny or just plain weird little videos, but you can often find them by Googling "machinima" (the term used for movies made using videogame engines). Another good example is a fairly good horror film called Dracula's Guest on this site:
http://www.candlelightstories.com/movies.asp
Congratulations, Eris!
You really were invited, it's just that your invitation was several millenia late:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/09/14/eris-dwarf-planet.html
Hail Eris!
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/09/14/eris-dwarf-planet.html
Hail Eris!
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Cinema on the Web Part One
I was a terrible film student.
No, I should rephrase that. I was a terrible student film maker. I am an excellent student of film when it comes to writing, studying and thinking about film. If I could, I would go to the movies every night of the week (and I used to when I was in school). I love analyzing film and I love looking for the little details, the symbolism, use of color, the framing of scenes. But mostly, I just enjoy being told a story, which is probably why I did better as a screenwriter than as a cinematographer or director.
One of the millions of reasons I love the Internet so much now is the ability for indie and hobby film makers to find an audience for their films. I'm not talking about the boobs on YouTube lipsyncing to disco songs, but film makers crafting short films and animations. But I'm also not talking about Art here necessarily either, though I have found some very beautiful and thoughtful films, but something in between Amateur Crap and High Art Pretentiousness.
Whenever I find a great movie site on the Web, I bookmark it for future viewings. Sometimes I email it to friends but usually the URL just gets tucked away into a folder and forgotten. And that's a real shame, because these sites really deserve some attention.
First, let's look at one of my new favorites, Elevator Moods:
http://www.elevatormoods.com/
The site itself is clever, designed to look like an elevator control panel. It uses just enough Flash to make it interesting and interactive, but not so much to make it annoyingly slow. Each of the movies are very short, only about the average length of an elevator ride, and use either an actual surveillance camera or an inexpensive camera rigged in the same manner, an ingenious way to get around the limitations of cheap equipment and poor video quality. The stories aren't necessarily unique or particularly well-written, but have an endearing roughness.
Next, a very impressive animation:
http://blissful.leftchannel.com/
This very short, abstract movie is difficult to describe. Done in entirely in black and white, often in what appears as ink blots, cilia and/or silhouettes, it has a disturbing beauty. The animation technique by itself is amazing and smooth.
No, I should rephrase that. I was a terrible student film maker. I am an excellent student of film when it comes to writing, studying and thinking about film. If I could, I would go to the movies every night of the week (and I used to when I was in school). I love analyzing film and I love looking for the little details, the symbolism, use of color, the framing of scenes. But mostly, I just enjoy being told a story, which is probably why I did better as a screenwriter than as a cinematographer or director.
One of the millions of reasons I love the Internet so much now is the ability for indie and hobby film makers to find an audience for their films. I'm not talking about the boobs on YouTube lipsyncing to disco songs, but film makers crafting short films and animations. But I'm also not talking about Art here necessarily either, though I have found some very beautiful and thoughtful films, but something in between Amateur Crap and High Art Pretentiousness.
Whenever I find a great movie site on the Web, I bookmark it for future viewings. Sometimes I email it to friends but usually the URL just gets tucked away into a folder and forgotten. And that's a real shame, because these sites really deserve some attention.
First, let's look at one of my new favorites, Elevator Moods:
http://www.elevatormoods.com/
The site itself is clever, designed to look like an elevator control panel. It uses just enough Flash to make it interesting and interactive, but not so much to make it annoyingly slow. Each of the movies are very short, only about the average length of an elevator ride, and use either an actual surveillance camera or an inexpensive camera rigged in the same manner, an ingenious way to get around the limitations of cheap equipment and poor video quality. The stories aren't necessarily unique or particularly well-written, but have an endearing roughness.
Next, a very impressive animation:
http://blissful.leftchannel.com/
This very short, abstract movie is difficult to describe. Done in entirely in black and white, often in what appears as ink blots, cilia and/or silhouettes, it has a disturbing beauty. The animation technique by itself is amazing and smooth.
Monday, September 11, 2006
A Very Enlightening Web Site
Like so many other great sites, I found this one by accident, while searching for something completely different. It is a site for a company called FluidEffect, which specializes in photographic retouching, site design, etc.:
http://www.fluideffect.com/
Go to this URL. Click on the Portfolio link. Agree to their site terms and choose "Before and After." Choose any of the thumbnails, which will show the "after" part. If you want to see the "before" image, click and hold the "before" link (it's in tiny type above the thumbnails).
The results are startling. I always knew that magazine photos, especially those of celebrities, were touched up, but until I saw the before and after, I really didn't know just how much.
http://www.fluideffect.com/
Go to this URL. Click on the Portfolio link. Agree to their site terms and choose "Before and After." Choose any of the thumbnails, which will show the "after" part. If you want to see the "before" image, click and hold the "before" link (it's in tiny type above the thumbnails).
The results are startling. I always knew that magazine photos, especially those of celebrities, were touched up, but until I saw the before and after, I really didn't know just how much.
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Fall TV Time - 2006
Yes, once again it is Fall TV Preview time, one of my favorite times of the year. Here is a list of TV programs I am looking forward to:
Heroes (premiers 25 September): Take one part Lost, one part The 4400 and one part X-Men. Add in a lot of hype, some very intriguing teasers and high quality special effects. I'm a little bit worried about the writing, as it is written and produced by the same team that creates Crossing Jordan, a rather light-weight and improbable crime drama (with some hokey plots and not-so-good acting), and it is rather obviously trying to capture the Lost fans. The characters listed on the show's site are not as interesting as I would like: a painter with an addiction; a cop who hears voices; a girl who is indestructible, yet wants to be normal; a son following his murdered father's crazy research, looking for answers. Yet, I am a sucker for any SciFi/Fantasy/Horror I can get, so I will definitely watch at least the first few episodes.
Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip (premiers 25 September) and 30 Rock: NBC is getting weird and a little bit senile in its old age - this fall, it has two completely different shows based on the same thing, namely the back-stage politics of producing a comedy show, a thinly veiled Saturday Night Live. Both are written by some of the best television writers around - Aaron Sorkin, the genius behind West Wing and Tina Fey, my personal hero and the genius who may have single-handedly saved Saturday Night Live (that is probably an exaggeration, but honestly, the only thing I really love to watch is the Weekend Update). I suppose if there is room for three Law and Order programs, then two SNL spin-offs doesn't seem like much of a stretch.
Smith (premiers 26 September): I am probably one of 10 people who actually liked the remake of Ocean's Eleven, so hearing about a TV show that is the adventures of high-level thieves got my attention. Fan reviews have been high, but rumors of bad reviews are everywhere. I really want to have Ray Liotta on my TV every week, however, so I'll be tuning in.
Veronica Mars (premiers 3 October): The first season's date rape plot and the murder of Lily (Veronica's best friend, for the uninitiated) storyline had me riveted. The second season somehow managed to keep the murder storyline afloat without making it boring AND gave us the startling bus crash plot (it's not as hokey as I make it sound, trust me). I can't wait to see what season three has in store.
House (5 September): I was not a faithful watcher of Dr. House and I actually only just started watching the show in reruns. I have no idea what's going on with his cane and the apparent "cure" of his painkiller addiction. Frankly, I don't give a rat's ass, as long as Dr. House is still cranky.
Lost (3 October): The sudden emergence, at the end of the season no less, of Desmond not only as an important character, but also as a good, compassionate, heroic and interesting one, left me in a state. The show introduced as many intriguing puzzles as it answered, which left many fans (on the message boards at least) feeling unfulfilled and restless. My hope is, no matter how much I love the show, that this is last season. It is skillfully written, but four+ seasons of no answers will eventually get old, even if I am still rabid for more.
Supernatural (28 September): Last season ended on a cliffhanger, with the boys and their father badly hurt from a car accident. It seems unlikely that show's writers would off either of the brothers, but the father has been a marked man from the start. It's possible that someone might be in a coma for most of the season (making him a target for the various monsters and cultists that populate the show) or that all of them will simply wake up in the first episode. I'm curious to see what cliche the writers decide on. Even for all its cliches, plot holes and predictible plots, I still think the show has potential. The chemistry between the actors is good, the soundtrack is fun and man, do I love monsters.
Dexter: Showtime is the new HBO. Who cares about Entourage (the only reason to watch it is for Jeremy Piven anyway) when you have Weeds? Plus, there is Dexter, a new series featuring Michael C. Hall (once a star on HBO's Six Feet Under) that appeals to my inner goth. Based on the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, it follows the adventures of Dexter, a CSI by day and a serial killer by night. Subject matter aside, did I mention it has Michael C. Hall?
Heroes (premiers 25 September): Take one part Lost, one part The 4400 and one part X-Men. Add in a lot of hype, some very intriguing teasers and high quality special effects. I'm a little bit worried about the writing, as it is written and produced by the same team that creates Crossing Jordan, a rather light-weight and improbable crime drama (with some hokey plots and not-so-good acting), and it is rather obviously trying to capture the Lost fans. The characters listed on the show's site are not as interesting as I would like: a painter with an addiction; a cop who hears voices; a girl who is indestructible, yet wants to be normal; a son following his murdered father's crazy research, looking for answers. Yet, I am a sucker for any SciFi/Fantasy/Horror I can get, so I will definitely watch at least the first few episodes.
Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip (premiers 25 September) and 30 Rock: NBC is getting weird and a little bit senile in its old age - this fall, it has two completely different shows based on the same thing, namely the back-stage politics of producing a comedy show, a thinly veiled Saturday Night Live. Both are written by some of the best television writers around - Aaron Sorkin, the genius behind West Wing and Tina Fey, my personal hero and the genius who may have single-handedly saved Saturday Night Live (that is probably an exaggeration, but honestly, the only thing I really love to watch is the Weekend Update). I suppose if there is room for three Law and Order programs, then two SNL spin-offs doesn't seem like much of a stretch.
Smith (premiers 26 September): I am probably one of 10 people who actually liked the remake of Ocean's Eleven, so hearing about a TV show that is the adventures of high-level thieves got my attention. Fan reviews have been high, but rumors of bad reviews are everywhere. I really want to have Ray Liotta on my TV every week, however, so I'll be tuning in.
Veronica Mars (premiers 3 October): The first season's date rape plot and the murder of Lily (Veronica's best friend, for the uninitiated) storyline had me riveted. The second season somehow managed to keep the murder storyline afloat without making it boring AND gave us the startling bus crash plot (it's not as hokey as I make it sound, trust me). I can't wait to see what season three has in store.
House (5 September): I was not a faithful watcher of Dr. House and I actually only just started watching the show in reruns. I have no idea what's going on with his cane and the apparent "cure" of his painkiller addiction. Frankly, I don't give a rat's ass, as long as Dr. House is still cranky.
Lost (3 October): The sudden emergence, at the end of the season no less, of Desmond not only as an important character, but also as a good, compassionate, heroic and interesting one, left me in a state. The show introduced as many intriguing puzzles as it answered, which left many fans (on the message boards at least) feeling unfulfilled and restless. My hope is, no matter how much I love the show, that this is last season. It is skillfully written, but four+ seasons of no answers will eventually get old, even if I am still rabid for more.
Supernatural (28 September): Last season ended on a cliffhanger, with the boys and their father badly hurt from a car accident. It seems unlikely that show's writers would off either of the brothers, but the father has been a marked man from the start. It's possible that someone might be in a coma for most of the season (making him a target for the various monsters and cultists that populate the show) or that all of them will simply wake up in the first episode. I'm curious to see what cliche the writers decide on. Even for all its cliches, plot holes and predictible plots, I still think the show has potential. The chemistry between the actors is good, the soundtrack is fun and man, do I love monsters.
Dexter: Showtime is the new HBO. Who cares about Entourage (the only reason to watch it is for Jeremy Piven anyway) when you have Weeds? Plus, there is Dexter, a new series featuring Michael C. Hall (once a star on HBO's Six Feet Under) that appeals to my inner goth. Based on the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, it follows the adventures of Dexter, a CSI by day and a serial killer by night. Subject matter aside, did I mention it has Michael C. Hall?
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