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Ponderings For 2009-03-01

Submitted by GuyGG on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 2:59am
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  • Sometimes a news event can reveal interesting things. The crash of two satellites last month resulted in some interesting conversations I had with a number of different people. One thing is clear - the vast majority of people I talked to had no idea just how many satellites are floating around the Earth (roughly a thousand active satellites, with thousands of others that are inactive and/or destroyed), or the variety and nationality of said objects. For a good amount of information, check out the Wikipedia entry for satellites.
  • Speaking of orbiting things, here's a cool set of pictures of what's involved in launching a space shuttle.
  • And on the topic of outer space, here's another one of those astronomical phenomena that's tough to wrap your mind around.
  • Ah, the fun of Google's Street View.
  • Battlestar's series finale has officially been split into a two parter (well, a three parter, since it was already intended as a two parter with the first part the previous week). So far, I've been enjoying Battlestar's run to the finish, though last weekend's episode "Deadlock" (written by one of my favorite TV writers, Jane Espenson), was one of the weaker episodes of the show for some time. However, this weekend's episode, "Someone To Watch Over Me", was very good. Composer Bear McCreary has done what has to be one of the single most detailed write-ups any single episode of TV score has ever received in his three part analysis. Absolutely outstanding work by Bear - some of his best for the series. And the fact that he snuck Stu Philips' great "Exploration" intro theme from the classic Battlestar series gets him some bonus fanboy credit. It was another great Starbuck episode, and holds up nicely to the brilliant season 2 episode, Scar. Oh, and congrats to Bear on his recent engagement (to Raya Yarbrough - a vocalist who has often been featured on the Battlestar score).
  • Rats. Somebody already beat me to an attempt at a video I've wanted to try myself - doing a Battlestar opening title sequence using Bear McCreary's revised arrangement of Stu Philips' classic theme using footage and cast from the new series in the style of the original series. OK, that sounds more complicated than it actually is. The linked video is a bit too tongue-in-cheek, so perhaps I might make my own attempt at it some day, anyway.
  • For those of you who want to wear your Blu-Ray pride
  • When, oh when, will us Pushing Daisies fans ever get to see the final three episodes? Turns out the DVD's (and hopefully Blu-Ray) of season 2 can't be released until ABC either airs the episodes or their contracted window to do so runs out in September.
  • The Discovery Channel will be airing a new documentary special on the amazing US Airways crash on the Hudson. It debuts on Wednesday, the 4th.
  • The end of an era - Computer Shopper will no longer be available in print form.
  • Cowon is releasing a very light update to their D2 player called the D2+. I've been a happy user of the D2 for the last year and a half or so.
  • So Star Trek: The Experience has been saved.
  • Could any jury really punish this mother for her actions? I certainly think the dude got what was coming.
  • On the flip-side is this sad but charming news story.
  • And you thought your pet was quite the conversation piece.
  • No matter how much proof I see of the pending release of the first season of Parker Lewis on DVD, such as this cover art, I still find it hard to believe. Perhaps I'll finally believe it as I'm watching the set at the end of June.
  • The Simpsons has been renewed for two more seasons (#21 & #22). It'll be truly insane if it ends at that point, just 7 episodes shy of 500 episodes.

Ponderings For 2009-02-04

Submitted by GuyGG on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 2:59am
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  • I post this entry from down in comfortable Phoenix, AZ (technically speaking, I'm in Laveen, which is just outside of Phoenix). It was roughly the same temp inside and out tonight. A bit wamer than the 17 degrees of Chicago, from whence I came.
  • Great to have Medium back with a new season this week. It's one of those shows where I don't realize how much I missed it until it's back. It's also a show I don't mention enough, because it really does deserve it. It's one of the most consistently great shows on the air. It's extremely rare for there to be a less-than-solid episode of the series, and it's always striving to be creative and try something risky and interesting. And it's one of those TV shows that really understands how to visually tell a story. The show's not just about visual style (which it certainly does have), but about using the visuals to help convey the plot and characters. Hopefully, the show will survive a good while longer.
  • Here's a fun new official promo from FOX for their upcoming Friday pairing of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse, done Grindhouse style. It's a fun and cool promo (particularly for being an official promo from the network), and I really do hope these two shows can help each other survive in their crazy Friday "death slot" schedule. It all kicks off on 2/13, and I can't wait. The Whedon geek in me loves seeing Summer Glau and Eliza Dushku joining forces in different shows together.
  • Speaking of sci-fi on Friday nights, did y'all enjoy last Friday's Battlestar episode, "The Oath?" After two fantastic and gritty character episodes, this one launched things forward at a breakneck speed. Awesome episode. I cheered out loud when Starbuck, uh, made an appearance in the landing bay...
  • Speaking of Battlestar, Universal is doing an interesting move releasing the pilot for Caprica on DVD this April, LONG before it airs on Sci-Fi in 2010 along with the episodes that will follow it.
  • And just to prove that after praising the above shows so much there's the other side to the coin, here's another low for reality TV.
  • The Obama administration has made their first move that annoys me.
  • Doctor Who will be making the big jump to being fully produced for HD starting with the upcoming 2009 Specials.
  • And you thought you've stayed at some strange hotels...
  • Here's an amusing bit of subterfuge pulled off by Anna Torv and Mark Valley, stars of the series Fringe, having gotten married over the holidays without the press noticing.
  • Speaking of subterfuge, looks like you'll wanna pay close attention to those M&M's you are buying.
  • And if you wanna see something equally strange and cool, check out these hit songs reworked through Microsoft's rather interesting and impressive Songsmith platform. There's numerous other ones you can find on Youtube if you go looking, a number of which are quite interesting.

Ponderings For 2009-01-28

Submitted by GuyGG on Thu, 01/29/2009 - 2:59am
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Ponderings For 2009-01-17

Submitted by GuyGG on Sun, 01/18/2009 - 2:59am
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  • Sorry for the full two weeks of down time without a post. I'm happy to say that the project that has been eating much of my time for a number of months now is finally 100% complete, and I have started handing out copies of it to folks as particularly late Christmas gifts. If you are somebody who knows me in, you know, the real world, and you haven't gotten one yet, just remind me and I'll hopefully have a copy on my to give you. I'm gonna try to keep at least a couple copies with me wherever I go for a little while. So, without further ado, I'll get back to these posts and try to get some of the many other projects I've left hanging back into gear. There will be plenty of stuff I'll be catching up on in these posts over the next few days.
  • RIP: Ricardo Montalban
  • RIP: Patrick McGoohan
  • So, did y'all love yesterday's Battlestar episode? It was the LONG awaited return of the series, and the first of the final 10 episodes of the series. I was amused that even with this first one, Sci-Fi is already giving them extra air time (3.5 minutes this time). I thought this was an utterly fantastic episode (one of the best of the series), and one of the darkest episodes of television ever aired. Listening to Ron Moore's podcast commentary for it, he reveals that the network was actually quite supportive of the episode. Frankly speaking, that's an amazing thing. If Sci-Fi really was completely behind this episode, they are truly comitted to this final run of the series, and letting them do whatever they think best for the story. This was a staggeringly grim episode of TV, which is the kind of thing a network would reflexively be against. So, thank you, Sci-Fi Channel. I must also single out composer Bear McCreary for praise, and not just for his subtle and great work in the episode. Over the past few years, Bear has been posting blog posts detailing his scoring of the episodes, and the posts have gotten more and more detailed over time. He'd already stated that he'd be doing some really detailed write-ups for these last 10 episodes, and he wasn't kidding. His post for this episode is incredibly detailed. In it we get some interesting details, such as the following: "Even though you’ll only catch a couple lines in the show, we actually recorded a complete performance of “All Along the Watchtower” for this episode, complete with all three verses, set in this trippy, ambient style.  Perhaps it’ll end up on a soundtrack album one day? :)" And then there are statements that just warm my heart, like: "The low strings perform a driving bassline in multiple octaves that almost sounds a bit rock and roll, inspired shamelessly by the energetic string phrases in my favorite Jerry Goldsmith scores." (I'm a huge Jerry Goldsmith fan)  Then there's his amusing closing tease: "PS: Somewhere in the score to this episode I’ve hidden a clue about the end of the series.  Good hunting.  :)"  I sure hope Bear gets all this stuff into a book once Battlestar has finished up. And yes, I actually read the entirety of all his posts. Not that I follow all the technical music stuff, but it's always a great read anyway.
  • Holy cow! Awesome casting news for the fantastic and hilarious series Chuck. First, Scott Bakula has been cast as Chuck's father. And if that isn't cool enough, none-other-than Chevy Chase is going to be doing a three episode arc.
  • Hmmm, a Jericho feature film is in the works? I'll believe it when I see it, but I hope they can pull it off.
  • For you fellow Pushing Daisies and Eli Stone fans, here's some sad news. As if having the shows cancelled wasn't bad enough, ABC has now decided to delay airing the last episodes of the shows until the SUMMER! With a delay like that, I'll be surprised if ABC even bothers airing them at all. Frankly, I'm hoping they see a DVD release by or before then. And as the article points out, the truly sad news is to see what the crap they've chosen in stead has gotten in comparative ratings. I weep for the human race when I look at TV ratings. What is WRONG with you average idiot TV viewers? Seriously, what the @#%* is wrong with you people?
  • Speaking of canceled series, Prison Break has bitten the big one. I'm way behind on the show, having only seen up to the first half dozen season 2 episodes. I'll catch up with them on Blu-Ray at some point.
  • The first four episodes of The Clone Wars animated series are headed to Blu-Ray (and DVD, of course). I must admit to liking the series much more than I thought I would, and look forward to checking out the BD release.
  • So the Watchmen legal fight is over. Good to hear.
  • The excellent Gina Trapani bids farewell to Lifehacker.com. I'll miss having her many great posts to the site, but will continue to read and enjoy the great site.
  • I suppose that'll do for now. I've got tons more stuff to post, so I'll try and pace myself. Look for my list of 2008 top movie picks in all the usual categories to be posted by next weekend. I've still got a few 2008 movies to catch before I finalize the lists and get them compiled and posted. I caught Slumdog Millionaire a second time tonight. Great film.

Ponderings For 2009-01-02

Submitted by GuyGG on Sat, 01/03/2009 - 2:59am
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Ponderings For 2008-12-29

Submitted by GuyGG on Tue, 12/30/2008 - 2:59am
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  • I'm trying to catch up on movies I haven't seen. I've added 5 recently seen films to my 2008 Films list. I added the brief reviews to them as well. The newly added ones are The Day The Earth Stood Still (7), The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (8), Yes Man (8), Valkyrie (9), Seven Pounds (9) and the lemon and new bottom entry on my list, The Spirit (2).
  • Starz network is developing a brand new Rob Thomas created show called Party Down, starring Veronica Mars' Ryan Hanson & Ken Marino (among others, including Jane Lynch & Lizzy Caplan). With Rob Thomas as show-runner and Marino & Hanson starring, I'll watch it no matter what it's about. Sounds like it has a fun premise anyway, so all the better.
  • Congrats to USA Network for setting plenty of records for 2008. They are my favorite cable network. I'm a HUGE fan of Psych and Monk, and have become a big fan of new series In Plain Sight.
  • And since I'm on the TV series topic, here's an exmple of just how bad reality TV has gotten - "Celebrity Rehab Presents Sober House." Seriously, they couldn't pay me to watch this crap. I'm ashamed to be a humanoid. Shame on you, VH1.
  • I was one of the many who suffered the AT&T Wireless outtage most of the day Sunday.
  • The RIAA has been denied appeal on the reversal of their only court win, hurray! Granted, they've stopped their carpet bombing personal law suits now (probably due to not being able to actually win any).
  • Darth Mojo has posted some very cool "radiosity renders" of the Battlestar CGI models.
  • Not sure if I'll get another post in before the new year. If not, everybody enjoy your New Year's celebration. In the mean time, I'm gonna have to get myself some Weasel Puke Coffee...

Ponderings For 2008-12-14

Submitted by GuyGG on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 2:59am
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  • Friday's Christmas movie viewing was National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Saturday's was a double feature of Die Hard and Die Hard 2. Today's viewing was The Family Stone.
  • A non-Christmas movie I tossed on today is Executive Decision, an underrated action/thriller film directed by the talented Stuart Baird with a fantastic Jerry Goldsmith score. I think it's the first movie I recall noticing Halle Berry in back in the day (when I saw her in next few films that followed it was always, "hey, that's the woman from Executive Decision). It's interesting going back and putting on older DVD discs, particularly on the newer HD equipment. This is one of the earliest of DVD's that were made, and might actually be the oldest one in my collection that has yet to be re-issued and/or released in high def (since other early Warner Bros DVD's that had yet to get upgraded, like Eraser and Blade Runner have finally seen better versions released recently). Executive Decision is alarming low in quality, though. Many of my LaserDiscs probably look better on this HD projector than this DVD does. It was actually a surprisingly weak quality transfer on the disc, even though I knew it was a very old DVD. Oh, another fun trivial fact I noticed while watching the movie - the name of the airline on the hijacked 747 is Oceanic Airlines. This would later become infamous as the airline for the crashed plane in Lost (Oceanic flight 815). Interestingly, the plane they repainted to shoot all the footage for in Executive Decision had previously been hijacked in 1988. I love that Wikipedia pages like this one exist, and with such detail.
  • RIP: KB Toys
  • Neato. Star Trek is going to get an IMAX release.
  • What do you know? Apparently my life could actually serve a purpose after all.
  • Check out this striking photo. It'll take your brain a few seconds to realize what it's really looking at.
  • Speaking of photos, here's a collection of National Geographic's 10 most popular ones for the year.
  • Wanna see just how bad and scary local TV commercials can be?
  • And don't forget, the new Battlestar webisodes have begun.
  • You know, you just don't see enough front loader trick competitions.

Ponderings For 2008-12-10

Submitted by GuyGG on Thu, 12/11/2008 - 2:59am
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  • Forgot to mention the last couple movies in my ongoing Christmas movie viewings. Last Friday, I did one of the required entries, A Christmas Story, on HD-DVD. On Sunday I did the Blu-Ray of The Polar Express (though I went for the standard 2D version this time, not the 3D). On Monday, I did a TV Christmas episode triple feature. First was Buffy's third season episode, Amends. Second was Roswell's second season episode, A Roswell Christmas Carol. Third was My So-Called Life's episode So-Called Angels. And tonight I did Black Christmas (the remake). It isn't a particularly great movie, and is more of a horror movie, but it's a good counterpoint to the normal ones for how twisted it is. And I also picked up the HD-DVD at Fry's yesterday for $3. I think Fry's has pretty much accumulated the left over HD-DVD supply of North America, and will continue selling them until the supply finally runs out. Having seen the boxes and boxes and boxes full of Heroes Season 1 HD-DVD sets underneath their shelves, it's gonna be some time before they get rid of those dozens and dozens (if not hundreds and hundreds) of copies.
  • Hurray! The Dark Knight score has been re-instated for eligibility for the Academy Awards. It was a completely stupid thing they did a while back disqualifying the score. It's one of the best scores of the year, so I'm happy to hear that they grew a brain and allowed it back in. I was only so-so on the score for Batman Begins, but for The Dark Knight, Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard really perfected what they were going for, and the incredibly well done nervous tension they gave to The Joker is brilliant. The more times I watch the movie, the more I realize how darn well the score works.
  • Google has added (back) the capability to do SMS texting from inside GMail's chat interface.
  • Sad to hear the news that David Tennant has had to drop out of his Hamlet run with the RSC due to a back injury. Hope he has a good recovery, and is able to start filming Doctor Who again in January.
  • Here's some great work at adapting major corporate logos for their current financial state...
  • Endeavour is finally winging its way back to Florida
  • Ah, the delicious irony
  • Need to catch up on Battlestar before it comes back in January for its final run? Here's a fantastic, funny recap they put together. Naturally, if you haven't seen the episodes aired up to this point before, and ever plan to, do NOT watch this video. It's, uh, just a tad spoilery.

Ponderings For 2008-12-09

Submitted by GuyGG on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 2:59am
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  • Just watched last night's 2 part series finale of Boston Legal. I'm really gonna miss this show, which has been better than ever this last short season. When one realizes that this last 2 part episode turns out to be episodes 100 and 101 of the series, it's not hard to figure out how they got the approval for this last half season, just to push that episode count past the magical 100 that the syndication market loves so much. This finale was so great. And for a show that constantly breaks the fourth wall, they really started to climb out on the limb, openly mocking and criticizing the very network and the reason it's so hard for a show like it to survive. How many other shows could get away with staging a court scene in which the show defends it's own existence in the TV market, stopping JUST short of saying its own name a cited example? And the final step of the Alan & Denny relationship was so great. At any rate, it's sad to see the series go. But I must admit that I really like it when shows know ahead of time that they are ending their run. It makes for a lot of fun in those last few episodes.
  • I've been checking out a few of today's video releases. The Dark Knight Blu-Ray looks and sounds absolutely fantastic. Then I was very impressed with hour+ of documentary materials on the first disc. However, once I put in the second disc, I was suddenly less than impressed. All-in-all, this totally smacks of a release that will have another more inclusive release in the near future. The blu-ray set for Lost Season 4, however, is anything but lacking. I only scratched the surface looking through the stuff on that set, and it's just a staggering amount of cool stuff. Coolest to me, the music score nerd that I am, is the 45 minutes or so of material about Michael Giacchino's fantastic work in scoring the show (not to mention the cool concert they did in Hawaii). I'll be sifting through this set for a while. I'll also take a look at the blu-ray for Horton Hears A Who in the next day or two, as well as a couple of today's other releases.
  • A nifty new trailer for Terminator Salvation has hit the web
  • Those Battlestar writers really know how to throw a wedding
  • Happy 40th birthday to the mouse

Ponderings For 2008-12-02

Submitted by GuyGG on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 2:59am
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  • And another one bites the dust. Say goodbye to Tweeter. I can't say that I shopped there much in recent years. I used to be a pretty loyal customer to United Audio Center. Things went a bit downhill, slowly, once that chain was sold to Tweeter, and I slowly lost interest in the stores. Still, it's a bit sad to see the chain die.
  • Eleventh Hour has gotten a partial pickup for 5 more episodes. It's a pretty good show, and it would be nice to see it survive.
  • The new Battlestar webisodes begin on December 12
  • Here's a pretty impressive looking port in Norway
  • Google has bought up 20 million historical news pages in their continuing effort to bring more and more info online.
  • I've stumbled into the first glitches on my new Panasonic BD35 Blu-Ray player. The sync of the on-screen video for stuff like the on-screen commentaries for the new X-Files movie discs that came out today has trouble staying sync'd with the audio. I must say that otherwise it's been a fantastic player so far. And the new X-Files movie Blu-Ray discs are very nice at first impression. Guess I'll wait for the next firmware update. ;-)
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