I just got done putting together a train table for Ben’s Christmas. One of the boards under the center of the table split when being screwed together I don’t think it is a terribly load barring board, so I’m just going to call the company (Toys ‘R Us’ Imaginarium line) to get a replacement part. On the whole, I don’t think any of the train table brands are that well made, but hopefully this one will work for him. Now, I have to see how the train track (also Imaginarium) will work and likely add some pieces from the Thomas the Tank Engine universe.
While putting everything together, I watched “The Pixar Story” documentary on the 2nd WALL-E Blu-ray disc. I’ve been wanting to see this film for a couple of years now and I must say it didn’t disappoint. It’s not a hard hitting look nor a is it a puff piece. Presented in HD where available, it’s an exciting look into Pixar’s history from before any of the principal’s joined together to when it was a division under Lucas to the eventual sale to Steve Jobs. I loved all of the behind the scenes informal video and I think if I had more mathematical or artist talent I would have loved heading down that path. Oh…to have life in front of me again as Ben does today…
I only hope that I can adequately introduce him to my love of art, technology, animation, and all things Disney/Pixar.
So, I took Ben to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua today. This wouldn’t have been my flick of choice, but he’s loved the trailer since I first showed it to him. I think he enjoyed the movie, but I can’t say it was that great. Basically, think spoiled rich girl thrown out of her element who then comes into her own with the help of average people, but … with dogs. Jamie Lee Curtis and Piper Perabo (the live action cast) definitely phoned their performances in, but the voice cast (Drew Barrymore, Andy Garcia, Cheech Marin, etc.) did a decent job with the script. Honestly, it was a rather dull film that I never really connected with, but the dogs are cute and it kept Ben entertained for almost 1 hour.
At that point, he started tossing popcorn on the floor, impatiently getting up, messing with the seats and so on. We ended up missing about 15 minutes of the end of the film due to leaving the showing with Ben and then caught the last two or three minutes.
I think at this age, you really need two parents to easily keep him under control and I should have gotten some desserts to distract him for a bit longer. We’re going to try seeing Bolt over the Thanksgiving holiday.
I can’t wait till Ben is really asking to go see films with me and enjoying the whole show!
I picked up a Flip Mino video camera from Amazon and it was delivered today. I wasted no time capturing a quick video of Ben where he first used the word “pink” in reference to his spoon. I know there are higher quality options, but I wanted dead simple so that we could quickly grab footage of Ben doing the crazy things he does.
I was surprised how poorly the Flip’s built-in software handled the YouTube upload. The following video is my upload to YouTube of the full quality video, however, I’ve linked the version done by Flip at the end of this article. It appears they are over-compressing the video before sending to avoid the VERY long upload time I experienced (full quality video was 36.9MB). The problem is their method doesn’t get YouTube to offer the “watch in high-quality” option whereas my does.
Other than that gripe, I generally like the video camera from what little I have seen so far; natural colors, light, simple, cool USB flip-out connector. I’m sure I’ll have more to say as we use it further (Heather will likely be grabbing some footage at the beach this weekend).
If you want to see the version uploaded by Flip’s software, go here.
UPDATE:YouTube video replaced by higher quality Vimeo video…
I never read Esquire, but I’ve been waiting for some time to see E-Ink used in the mass market and so far I am quite impressed. It has very similar physical properties to paper and it not washed out by sunlight as a typical LCD screen would be. I didn’t video the Ford ad on the opposite side of the cover as it didn’t seem nearly as visually impressive. I simply cannot wait to see this technology used in more ways…
So, Google officially launched Chrome yesterday and I grabbed a copy for my Windows Vista image running under Boot Camp (as there is no Mac version yet). I’ve only done some rudimentary playing around with it, so these are just initial thoughts:
Windows Vista system crashed after install, causation or coincidence (could have been another process’ fault)?
UI is interesting, minimalistic, but I’m not sure I really like it yet.
No flash plugin included?
“Quick Dial” could be useful (Opera had this first)
I went to see The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor earlier today and I can’t say I recommend it. In Twitter I said it wasn’t horrible, but on further examination, it really isn’t that good at all. Not worth spending any money on as it is mindless entertainment that isn’t even decent quality by mindless entertainment standards. I really like Maria Bello, but she was a horrible replacement for the character of Evelyn O’Connell. The returning characters/actors did fine, but the new ones were VERY weak. This did not have the same fun & excitement that existed in the first film. Only worth it if you have free tix as I did…
Later this evening, I watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen on Blu-ray. Not the best movie, but I enjoy it for a variety of reasons. I do love this quote from early on in the flick:
Allan Quatermain: Automatic rifles. Who in God’s name has automatic rifles? Elderly Hunter: Dashed unsporting. Probably Belgian.
I wish this film had been better as I did love the concept and should probably pick up the graphic novel at some point.
Well, I can’t disappoint my wife who predicted I would have this posted by this morning Well, she does know me pretty well as I was thinking about what I wanted to write here after watching the movie last night.
I absolutely loved this film and in many ways it is better than Batman Begins. The returning cast is all excellent. Christian Bale still manages to portray the best Batman outside of the comic books. Michael Caine & Morgan Freeman reprise their roles and further develop the depth of their relationship with the Batman. There’s definitely some fun exchanges that involve these characters, but they’re very easy to enjoy as they are the only ones who know who Bruce Wayne really is and have no difficulty treating him as a man rather than the symbol he portrays. They are his moral grounding. I believe Gary Oldman is the returning character who developed the most from the first film. He plays a larger role (at least it felt that way) and his character comes into its own in this film. I don’t want to speak further on it, but just see what you think…
Aaron Eckhart is really enjoyable as Harvey Dent. I’m glad they picked him for the role as he nailed the character of Gotham’s crusading district attorney. I’d talk more hear, but I don’t want to give anything away to those who don’t know the entire Batman mythos. Maggie Gyllenhaal does an excellent job replacing Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. Okay, finally to the true star of the show, Heath Ledger as the Joker. Heath Ledger, rest in peace, redefines the Joker for the silver screen. In my opinion, this Joker annihilates Jack Nicholson’s Joker from memory as this is what the Joker SHOULD be (not that Jack’s Joker was bad, just goofier than needed). The Joker should be a psychopath who’s still somewhat connected to reality. The Joker just enjoys destruction, anarchy, and turning the world on it’s end, laughing all the while. Pain & death aren’t negatives to him, they’re possible outcomes and he just wants to enjoy the ride. That is what Heath Ledger brought to the role. We don’t know who he is, what his back story is, etc. It is all irrelevant. The Joker is anarchy and chaos. I am truly saddened that I won’t be able to see him reprise the role in the future due to his unfortunate death. This is the casting he was born for and the role he is likely to be remembered for.
There are some laugh out loud moments, some touching moments, and a few moments that caused the theater to give applause. I would say that this is the best “super hero” film ever, but Batman isn’t really a super hero. He’s a normal man doing extraordinary things purely due to dedication & force of will. I hope the cast returns again and Christopher Nolan brings us yet another riveting crime drama pulled from the pages of this great comic book.
Given that I’ve been on solo-daddy duty for the past week, I decided to go watch a movie tonight. I still want to see Iron Man for the 4th time, but I am saving that to see with Heather. So, it was either Kung Fu Panda or Get Smart. I decided to go with the former and I was very pleased with the flick.
Basically, this is the grand story of good vs. evil told in the scope of a small village that needs to defend against the evil Tai Lung. Well, what they need is the mysterious Dragon Warrior (think…ooohhh!) Well, this is where Jack Black’s Po (the Panda) comes into the story as he is looking to escape his mundane life and join the ranks of the Kung Fu masters. The characters are fun and the basic moral of the story is a nice addition. There isn’t anything utterly ground breaking here, but the script, the voices, the jokes, and the wonderful animation (and yes, it is that damn good) come together to make a VERY fun movie.
I actually have a question for you all (especially the parents among you). Let me give you some background before the question. I let Ben watch some shows with me, such as the new animated Spider-Man or Batman. We also watch stuff like Pixar/Disney films together. However, I am concerned about him watching TV/Movies with too much violence (even animated violence). Yes, I am probably allowing too much violence in the superhero cartoons. Kung Fu Panda has no blood and no one really dies (well, kinda, but nothing bad).
Am I being stupid or overly protective? I know he would probably enjoy it, but I don’t want to promote negative behaviors such as punching and kicking. I just don’t want to shelter him too much…
On Saturday night, Heather and I went out with our friends, Matt & Chrissy to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This was nice as it has been quite a while since Heather and I have gotten out to see a movie together.
The quick review is that the movie is fun although a bit odd in places. I personally liked it a lot and I think it is an excellent bookend to the whole series. The movie is definitely a tip of the hat to all that has come before.
I would put the final order as:
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Friday afternoon, I went to see The Incredible Hulk and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I went in with low expectations, but fortunately, I didn’t need to.
Just to get this out of the way, Incredible Hulk is good, but not great. It is not up to the Iron Man/Spider-Man/Batman Begins standard, but it is VERY good and a lot of fun. I wavered between 3.5 or 4 stars. I think it could go either way and I’m not sure at this point how repeat viewings will affect my opinion.
Basically, this flick ignores the Ang Lee Hulk from 5 years ago. This starts with Banner on the run and sets a new path of background facts. None of this is unsettling, as it is presented clearly and the acting helps to support the story. Edward Norton and William Hurt were both outstanding as Banner and Ross, respectively. Liv Tyler was stiff and seemed like a strong breeze might blow her over in many scenes and Tim Roth was fun in many scenes, but seemed out of place as Emil Blonsky whenever in his military dress uniform. He simply doesn’t have the imposing, unyielding stature of a career military man, much less a special forces soldier. I did enjoy his performance more as the film went on though. Tim Blake Nelson shows up in the last third of the movie as a fun character and an interesting twist, but avoid reading about him as it will likely spoil the fun if you’re knowledgeable about the Hulk mythos. All in all, a solid enough cast and it was great to see the Hulk as a hero albeit a misunderstood one.
The pacing is fast enough with regular injections of action to keep the crowd involved, but I wish the final battle had been a bit more ‘epic’. The rumor is that Edward Norton and Marvel clashed (Marvel once again produced this in house) as he had wanted a more thoughtful/brooding film while Marvel wanted a pure action flick. It seems Marvel won out and that is likely a good thing. However, if it all came down to editing, I for one would love to see BOTH versions presented when this makes its way to Blu-ray. That would be quite the treat. Finally, the movie has a number of cameos, nods to the TV show, and multiple hints of what may be to come. Best to keep your eyes peeled and just sit back and enjoy the mayhem the big green guy brings…
I don’t think it is a terribly load barring board, so I’m just going to call the company (Toys ‘R Us’ Imaginarium line) to get a replacement part. On the whole, I don’t think any of the train table brands are that well made, but hopefully this one will work for him. Now, I have to see how the train track (also Imaginarium) will work and likely add some pieces from the Thomas the Tank Engine universe.
Posted by Waking Badger
Posted by Waking Badger
Posted by Waking Badger
Well, she does know me pretty well as I was thinking about what I wanted to write here after watching the movie last night.
4 out of 5 stars
