Thursday, September 14, 2006
Final Fantasy
Better story than I expected. It's completely outrageous but it is so self-contained that it does not matter. The music by Elliot Goldenthal was too good for the movie but not by as much as I feared. There were a couple of sequences where I was not distracted by the actors' CGIosity. A laudable effort, but it's no Tron!
CBC News: Amputee controls bionic arms with a thought
CBC News: Amputee controls bionic arms with a thought
This is so much cooler than using roaches to control airplanes.
This is so much cooler than using roaches to control airplanes.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Grizzly Man
Werner Herzog speaks quietly. Whenever he says "Amy" I cannot but help think of Kif from Futurama. This in no way detracts from an impressive presentation of found art. I think Treadwell (The "Grizzly Man") was a misguided jerk, albeit with wacko charm, for acclimating bears to humans. Herzog has projected his own particular worldview on the footage left behind, but he is not wrong in seeing Treadwell as a filmmaker. Some of the footage is really good. But what a jerk! Herzog has found a fine addition to his roster of the misunderstood and the incomprehensible characters. Not merely alienated, thay have at their centers deep reserves of otherness.
The making of the soundtrack feature records the intense guided improv sessions that Herzog used instead of having a score written. He articulates his frustration at his lack of musical ability at the outset, but his hand gestures and body language as he agonizes trying to get a musical idea across without the means to hand. It's satisfying to see when he gets the result that he imagines in his head.
The making of the soundtrack feature records the intense guided improv sessions that Herzog used instead of having a score written. He articulates his frustration at his lack of musical ability at the outset, but his hand gestures and body language as he agonizes trying to get a musical idea across without the means to hand. It's satisfying to see when he gets the result that he imagines in his head.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Schwarzenegger apologizes over remark
Schwarzenegger apologizes over remark: "Schwarzenegger aides routinely tape his speechwriting sessions so the writers can keep a record of his thoughts and speaking patterns."
For later integration into the T-800, no doubt.
For later integration into the T-800, no doubt.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
The Aviator
Cool planes. Leonardo diCaprio was OK and not unbelievable as a mental patient. Much too much was made of Cate Blanchett's Katherine Hepburn role. Congressional hearing sequences are duller than the real thing, keep it moving, show me more crazy! Were there feet in Kleenex boxes? I can't remember, it's been months since I watched it.
Over the Hedge
Apparently this is based on a comic strip but has been transmogrified beyond recognition. Completely forgettable, mostly benign. Too many fart jokes.
The Razor's Edge
Another entry in the "shoulda seen" category. Bill Murray is not the worst thing about this well-intentioned misfire, that is reserved for Catherine Hicks, who is all too well cast as a brittle, shallow, grasping harridan. It was nice to see Saeed Jaffrey. A generous, uninspired production, it is not compelling in any way. Thoroughly American.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Real Frog!
This charning amphibian, perhaps able to sit within the compass a 50¢ piece, watched placidly as I helped Malyn move from her apartment. Is it native? It's so bright!
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Untermonken
Emphatically not a stylized representaion of my opinion of the greater body of my putative co-workers. No sirree. Nope.
Merlin
I was phone-polled about Merlin and I scoffed at the notion of Martin Short in an Arthurian movie. As it turns out, he's merely another distraction in a jumble of distractions: Sam Neill's rugged, sly charisma without a trace of otherworldliness, Miranda Richardson's utter camp, Short's indulgent clowning, and low-rent but well-designed CGI.
And what is up with Sir John Gielgud's appearance? One line hat is half grunt? A less-than-incidental character? Incomprehensible. On the plus side, the show is a lot of fun to watch and avoids many TV movie blunders. "The making of ..." emphasizes the short production schedule which resulted in a lot of single takes. Lots of rough patches to be sure, but we get to see the actors applying their skill. I am looking at you, Robert Bresson!
And what is up with Sir John Gielgud's appearance? One line hat is half grunt? A less-than-incidental character? Incomprehensible. On the plus side, the show is a lot of fun to watch and avoids many TV movie blunders. "The making of ..." emphasizes the short production schedule which resulted in a lot of single takes. Lots of rough patches to be sure, but we get to see the actors applying their skill. I am looking at you, Robert Bresson!
Taxi Driver
I want to see most movies, but I don't get around to it. (See most of my posts since November). The first such was M*A*S*H bust that was because I was too young. I saw it in the VHS era. Taxi Driver is one of the first instance caused by my own non-volition. I was too young to see the movie in the theaters, natch, but I knew by college that it was something that I needed to see. Now, thirty years later:
Everyone calls Bickle a monster, but he's just a little more messed up than average. He just needs a friend! But not another near-psycho cabbie like "Wizard."
Scorsese sure knows his city. He managed to paint (with his use of saturated colors, smeared lenses, etc, that is almost literally so - much closer to a painterly effect than poor mannered Bresson) a specific view of New York.
Most disturbing part was in the "Making of ..." Censors demanded that in the climax that colors be de-saturated to preserve R rating. (!!!) Appalling nannyism! I see their point: de-saturating the colors certainly lessened the effect. Scorsese should have sued. Oh well, spilt milk etc. Possible to fix, I suppose, but historicity, etc.
I look forward to Taxi Driver vs Alien.
Everyone calls Bickle a monster, but he's just a little more messed up than average. He just needs a friend! But not another near-psycho cabbie like "Wizard."
Scorsese sure knows his city. He managed to paint (with his use of saturated colors, smeared lenses, etc, that is almost literally so - much closer to a painterly effect than poor mannered Bresson) a specific view of New York.
Most disturbing part was in the "Making of ..." Censors demanded that in the climax that colors be de-saturated to preserve R rating. (!!!) Appalling nannyism! I see their point: de-saturating the colors certainly lessened the effect. Scorsese should have sued. Oh well, spilt milk etc. Possible to fix, I suppose, but historicity, etc.
I look forward to Taxi Driver vs Alien.
The Purple Plain
Low rent business with Gregory Peck in an especially granitey performance. The most vivid moment is provided by a lizard. No Twelve O'Clock High this.
Lancelot du Lac
A Man Escaped was great film-making. Lancelot du Lac is just silly in the silliest of euro-silliness. The idea, I think, is to show the human side of the love triangle except Bresson eschews humans which leads to extreme comedy. I was laughing the whole way through.
Fitzcarraldo
Everyone says Fitzcaraldo is about a man with an obsession. Well maybe. But everyone in the movie is mostly crazed. Fitzie's urbane manner puts him in the not-so-crazy side of the equation in my reckoning. Fitzcarraldo's attitude at the end of the movie is a good example of someone with the right attitude. Actually pulling a boat up a big hill is just silly, of course, but that's Herzog's problem. (see Making of ...)
A triple-pulley system plays an important part in the plot. The same week that I watched I visited the Seattle Science Center with a beloved child and there was an opportunity to play with a similar set-up.
A triple-pulley system plays an important part in the plot. The same week that I watched I visited the Seattle Science Center with a beloved child and there was an opportunity to play with a similar set-up.
Golem
Co-director Wegener carries the whole picture with his baleful gaze. Art direction fantastic, literally not figuratively. Much commented as proto-Frankenstein as in James Whale Frankenstein and deservedly so. Except for the whole puppet-of-Hell/Kill All Humans problem, the Golem is very sympathetic.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Monday, August 14, 2006
Blueberry Picking
Spent part of the day picking blueberries (10#!) near Mt. Si. Then we visited Snoqualmie Falls. The berries were turned into cobble before there was chnace for pictures. They were blue. And round. Many were snacked upon before getting home.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
I grieve for Bainbridge Island.
The pressures of urban sprawl have overtaken Bainbridge Island and sucked all the goodness out of it. If the city and the new residents do anything other than back off and lay down their development schemes, theu can kiss their souls good-bye. "Widow-makers." What a weenie. Tell you what, Paul Bunyan, we'll swap houses and I'll live in Deadfall Alley with Farmer Suyematsu and you can cower under your BMW.
By TRISTAN BAURICK Staff Writer
Aug 05 2006
Vista Drive neighbors want better views, while a long-time farmer digs in.
Akio Suyematsu – at 84 years and just over 5 feet tall – isn’t going to budge if the chainsaws come.
“I’d like to see them take my trees,” Suyematsu said Thursday, after learning of a city proposal to remove and prune trees he planted nearly 60 years ago on his family’s Day Road farm. “If I’m here, I’ll kick ’em out.”
But the 15-acre farm is now city property, purchased from Suyematsu five years ago as open space while allowing Suyematsu to work the land until 2012.
Residents along neighboring Vista Drive to the east have complained that the narrow stand of approximately 80 trees blocks views and are a danger to their homes.
The City Council on Wednesday will discuss an agreement with seven Vista Drive property owners allowing an arborist to trim branches for improved west-facing views, which includes farm fields, a vineyard and the Olympic Mountains. Eight trees judged dead or dying would also get the axe as a safety measure, according to the proposal.
In return, the city would gain the right to maintain a narrow irrigation and stormwater ditch cut by Suyematsu’s family. The ditch, which helps prevent flooding in Suyematsu’s berry fields and other agricultural lands, bisects nine Vista Drive residents’ properties and is almost entirely outside of the city’s property, according to city staff.
The ditch’s location touched off a property dispute after Vista Drive was developed in the 1960s.
The city, in an effort to avoid costly litigation, crafted a proposal aimed at compromise between the city and residents.
Vista Drive residents commended the city for its work over the last year in trying to reach a compromise.
“They don’t want our seven or eight lawyers with their one lawyer,” said Vista Drive resident Walter Braswell. “The city has enough on its plate other than dealing with this.”
Braswell and other residents expressed hope that the agreement will improve safety and the aesthetic value of their properties.
“One of the branches came down on my house four years ago,” said Braswell. “It put a 4-inch hole in my roof. We want to get rid of these widow-maker trees.”
Braswell also wants additional limb trimmings to better enjoy views from his property.
“That’s the reason we came here – the quality of life,” he said. “It’s about sharing the panoramic view and the pastoral view. Many people like to look at the farm.”
But Suyematsu and other farmers on Day Road would prefer not to have a view of Braswell’s home.
“One of the values of this place is you don’t see sprawl,” said winemaker Gerard Bentryn, who owns vineyards adjacent to the Suyematsu property. “What the city’s proposing will be is a kick in the island’s scenic pants.”
Suyematsu said he planted the trees – many of which are 40 to 60-foot Douglas firs – to conceal the residential development as it cropped up next to his farm.
“When I sold the property to (the city), I said, ‘no houses, and you better not cut my trees,’” he said.
Suyematsu has allowed Vista Drive residents to trim his trees in the past. But his view of his neighbors and the city has soured.
“They’re double-crossers,” he said. “If I die tomorrow, (the city) will probably come in and build houses.”
Ann Frothingham, whose family owns two parcels bordering Vista Drive, hopes the agreement will cause no ill-will with Suyematsu or Day Road’s farmers.
“I love Akio...and I love the trees,” she said. “I wish they weren’t firs. They grow a hundred feet high. I think (replacing them) with some flowering trees would be lovely.
“But there’s no question they impact the property when you look out at a line of firs.”
Some methods prescribed by an arborist’s assessment commissioned by the city and conducted by Seattle-based Tree Solutions include the removal of some lower limbs, re-cutting the tops of trees that were lopped off in the past and removal of young alders to reduce future pruning and possible safety risks.
Island plant pathologist Olaf Ribeiro, who has consulted for the city on tree retention issues in the past, has strong doubts about the Tree Solutions’ assessment.
“It upset me,” he said. “It’s all about taking out trees and topping them and nothing about saving them or improving the vigor of the trees. Several of the trees could be treated with just mulch and fertilizer.”
Ribeiro is also concerned that tree removal could destabilize the surrounding slope and flood farmland below.
“Those are big trees and it’ll make a big difference,” he said. “You’ll definitely see flooding down there.”
While arborists, city officials and home owners may debate the future of the trees, Suyematsu says the answer is simple: he was there first.
“If I was here last, I wouldn’t say too much,” he said. “But this farm was already here. My dad came here in 1928. Now these houses come here and they have more rights than me? That’s not right.”
Tree clearing plan at farm sparks uproar
By TRISTAN BAURICK Staff Writer
Aug 05 2006
Vista Drive neighbors want better views, while a long-time farmer digs in.
Akio Suyematsu – at 84 years and just over 5 feet tall – isn’t going to budge if the chainsaws come.
“I’d like to see them take my trees,” Suyematsu said Thursday, after learning of a city proposal to remove and prune trees he planted nearly 60 years ago on his family’s Day Road farm. “If I’m here, I’ll kick ’em out.”
But the 15-acre farm is now city property, purchased from Suyematsu five years ago as open space while allowing Suyematsu to work the land until 2012.
Residents along neighboring Vista Drive to the east have complained that the narrow stand of approximately 80 trees blocks views and are a danger to their homes.
The City Council on Wednesday will discuss an agreement with seven Vista Drive property owners allowing an arborist to trim branches for improved west-facing views, which includes farm fields, a vineyard and the Olympic Mountains. Eight trees judged dead or dying would also get the axe as a safety measure, according to the proposal.
In return, the city would gain the right to maintain a narrow irrigation and stormwater ditch cut by Suyematsu’s family. The ditch, which helps prevent flooding in Suyematsu’s berry fields and other agricultural lands, bisects nine Vista Drive residents’ properties and is almost entirely outside of the city’s property, according to city staff.
The ditch’s location touched off a property dispute after Vista Drive was developed in the 1960s.
The city, in an effort to avoid costly litigation, crafted a proposal aimed at compromise between the city and residents.
Vista Drive residents commended the city for its work over the last year in trying to reach a compromise.
“They don’t want our seven or eight lawyers with their one lawyer,” said Vista Drive resident Walter Braswell. “The city has enough on its plate other than dealing with this.”
Braswell and other residents expressed hope that the agreement will improve safety and the aesthetic value of their properties.
“One of the branches came down on my house four years ago,” said Braswell. “It put a 4-inch hole in my roof. We want to get rid of these widow-maker trees.”
Braswell also wants additional limb trimmings to better enjoy views from his property.
“That’s the reason we came here – the quality of life,” he said. “It’s about sharing the panoramic view and the pastoral view. Many people like to look at the farm.”
But Suyematsu and other farmers on Day Road would prefer not to have a view of Braswell’s home.
“One of the values of this place is you don’t see sprawl,” said winemaker Gerard Bentryn, who owns vineyards adjacent to the Suyematsu property. “What the city’s proposing will be is a kick in the island’s scenic pants.”
Suyematsu said he planted the trees – many of which are 40 to 60-foot Douglas firs – to conceal the residential development as it cropped up next to his farm.
“When I sold the property to (the city), I said, ‘no houses, and you better not cut my trees,’” he said.
Suyematsu has allowed Vista Drive residents to trim his trees in the past. But his view of his neighbors and the city has soured.
“They’re double-crossers,” he said. “If I die tomorrow, (the city) will probably come in and build houses.”
Ann Frothingham, whose family owns two parcels bordering Vista Drive, hopes the agreement will cause no ill-will with Suyematsu or Day Road’s farmers.
“I love Akio...and I love the trees,” she said. “I wish they weren’t firs. They grow a hundred feet high. I think (replacing them) with some flowering trees would be lovely.
“But there’s no question they impact the property when you look out at a line of firs.”
Some methods prescribed by an arborist’s assessment commissioned by the city and conducted by Seattle-based Tree Solutions include the removal of some lower limbs, re-cutting the tops of trees that were lopped off in the past and removal of young alders to reduce future pruning and possible safety risks.
Island plant pathologist Olaf Ribeiro, who has consulted for the city on tree retention issues in the past, has strong doubts about the Tree Solutions’ assessment.
“It upset me,” he said. “It’s all about taking out trees and topping them and nothing about saving them or improving the vigor of the trees. Several of the trees could be treated with just mulch and fertilizer.”
Ribeiro is also concerned that tree removal could destabilize the surrounding slope and flood farmland below.
“Those are big trees and it’ll make a big difference,” he said. “You’ll definitely see flooding down there.”
While arborists, city officials and home owners may debate the future of the trees, Suyematsu says the answer is simple: he was there first.
“If I was here last, I wouldn’t say too much,” he said. “But this farm was already here. My dad came here in 1928. Now these houses come here and they have more rights than me? That’s not right.”
Monday, August 07, 2006
My head, it explodes!
"If folksonomies aren't tagged by the technorati, who or what will linkroll the mashups? The impact on the remixability of emergent systems will likely be severe."
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Even More Nature
Some wasps (mud-daubers?) had the bad luck to make a nest in a tube of Christmas wrapping paper in my garage. All would have been well for them if I had not heard their buzzing echoing out of the tube. I knocked the nest out of the tube: here it is. Warning! Insect ookiness!
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