I Thought You Were Dead

All right, NOW I'm going to do it! I 'm going to get back onto daily entries, I just need to get back into the habit! I think the main reason I've been slipping lately is because Jess is still gone and the woman is pretty much my muse and motivation for pretty much everything in my life. With out her I'm pretty much uninspired and bored about nearly everything. It's a side effect of a happy marriage I didn't even realise was there until now. I guess I'm glad she took the break for that reason, It'll probably help me a good father.

However, there was one experience that helped. Jess has owned a copy of Final Fantasy IV for the DS for a long time, and now that I'm quite bored with her gone, I decided to give it a try. After I got past the opening hour, I suddenly got a really heady feeling of nostalgia. It took me back to the days of the PSX and FFVII. The story was okay, maybe it gets more complex later on, but it was worth picking up just for that brief sojourn into my younger life.

I have to work hard on my final project for school, so I may not have time for a full review this month. maybe a couple of Nancy Drews or something.

Movie of the day: Escape From New York. I knew I had to see this one at some point, just because I'm becoming a fan of John Carpenter and I've always loved Metal Gear Solid (which takes several massive and incredibly obvious cues from it.) It is pretty awesome, and what they did on a low budget and old technology is phenomenal (you know the part where Snake sees a wire frame image of the city through the screen of his glider? That ain't CG! It was a scale model of New York painted with luminescent paint and tape!), but it still shows it's age with how slow it's pace is and how aimless it can get, despite a simple premise. I also felt they wasted that psycho henchman, too. I do love the music, though! Carpenter was pretty darn talented when it came to composing, and this score really shows off how synth can still work without sounding goofy (along with Blade Runner and The Thing).

Song of the day: The Streets Of Whiterun by Jeremy Soule. those who have played Skyrim may think, "Man, I know this one by heart, it's like the third most recognizable song in the game (after Dovahkiin and the Battle Theme)!" Wrong. You have heard it in the background, so low that I bet you don't even know that it has a piano section! This is actually a fantastic piece, sad and wrenching, perfectly capturing a city struggling to get by. There's a lot to it that you can really miss on a casual listen, so give it a real try.

Remember, Boys And Girls: Don't Be A Dimwit!

Yes, don't be a dimwit and leave your blog for ages so you have all the more to catch up on when you do! Well, it certainly has been a busy week, but at least I have something to show for it! two things, even! Check it out!

Well, I'm On My Way

My stars, it certainly is going to be a busy week for me. Not only am I editing the Mewtwo Returns review but I need to put together a compositing project and get the preproduction on my BIG project to at least a decent standard by Monday! It always seems to be that way with work for me, feast or famine...

As for Jess, she's done great, and we just found out it's going to be a boy! Still not sure how I feel about that, we were kind of hoping for a girl, but it's still very exciting and it's not going to make us care for him any less. Still freakin' weird, though...

Movie of the day: The Sword In The Stone. I'd really almost hesitate to call this a "movie", it's only 75 minutes long and to be honest, there's really no scope to it despite the lofty setting and main characters. I'd prefer to call it a beautifully animated Disney TV special. The jokes and pacing are... okay for the time period but oh my, the character animation in particular is just stellar. Worth watching twice over for any student of the animation craft, and a nice little distraction for the rest of us.

Song of the day: Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard by Paul Simon. When most people think of Paul they usually think of maudlin folk songs with depressing messages, but what they tend to forget is that he also sang some pretty catchy and upbeat tunes! ...With depressing messages. Still a fun song, though.

Sketchbook Sunday, Part The Eleventh

Someone commented last time that maybe I should just do the Movie and Song of the day if I can't think of something to write. I guess that would help you to know that I'm still here, so I'll give it a try. That said, I actually do have some things to say today.

We've been on an efficiency kick after we finished cleaning up the bomb site that was left after the in-laws evacuated, so I decided to really get down to it and work on my end-of-month review. After eight straight hours I finally finished up the script! It's probably my most negative review so far (aside from FFVII:AC if course), but I'm still quite pleased with it, so I'll hype it up a bit. It's a  solo review of Mewtwo Returns. I'll give a release date when the titlecard is done, but it should be interesting!

Now, for some sketches.

Didn't Know What I Had To Do

I'm losing it. I really wanted to hold onto the daily blog thing, but it's surprisingly hard to come up with something interesting that I did every day. I guess I'm just a boring kind of guy. That plus the fact that I'm scripting two major projects means that I'm going to have to shift how often I post to every other day, and then just to update with something interesting I found. I'll still try to post daily, just no promises anymore.

That said, check out this freaking thing!



If I owned this, I would grind it to powder with how often I would use it. It is my absolute dream equipment, and it rekindles the excitement of filmmaking within me all over again. The instant I have a large enough budget for a $15,000 steadicam, this will arrive on my doorstep the day before it happens. It's the most beautiful piece of filmmaking perfection I have ever seen, and one day, it will be mine.

Movie of the day: Overboard. I could almost call this a guilty pleasure, but decent writing, a heartwarming yet sufficiently cynical story, Goldie Hawn at her prime and Kurt Freakin' Russell elevate it sufficiently into Watchable Chick Flick for me. I think Goldie is like Hugh Grant: at their best when playing complete jerks (at least at the beginning).

Song of the day: Stronger by The Sugababes. I have a real love/hate relationship with this group. Their first single, 'overload', was a really smart and different song that stood out amongst the manufactured stuff. "Freak Like Me" was also amazing, but I'll talk about that one later. Then, they started losing members and started producing the manufactured crap that they originally stood out from. Now I don't even think they have any of the same members. I do really love this song, downbeat and engrossing, yet with an optimistic message. I think it was their last good one.

When The Morning Comes

I keep forgetting that I don't have to write a long post every day. Short post, ho!

Today we mainly just entered into recovery mode after we saw the family-in-law off at 4 in the morning (lots of napping was involved in the afternoon). We have to sort out all the stuff they left us including two scooters and three bikes. I guess it'll eventually lead to some extra scratch but ugh, it's just tiresome.

Got some great ideas for my end-of-month review, hopefully I'll have a script done by the end of the week. I've been having no end of trouble with streaming, so I'll have to put the first impressions series and AMV heaven on the backburner until further notice once again. I'll figure something out...

Movie of the day: Second Hand Lions. There comes a time when you just want a nice little heartwarmer of a film to relax and enjoy in the good old-fashioned lazy afternoon kind of way. It's pretty harmless, but it maintains interest very well (especially in the fantasy sequences) and you can't go wrong with Robert Duvall and Michael Caine. The story behind the screenplay is quite intriguing too, check it out in the extras.

Song of the day: All Alone by Gorillaz. I love Gorillaz, they were the first band I ever bought an album from, and this song exemplifies one of the best things about them: how unconventional they can be especially for a pop band. I love how it seems like a dirty little headbobber and then suddenly just blooms into a sublime orchestral splash of sunshine for a second. I just wish that bridge could be a song on it's own.

Keep Believing, Keep Pretending

I apologise for not putting up my usual 'sketchbook sunday' post yesterday. It wasn't because I hadn't drawn anything, it's just that I haven't been able to reach the scanner for all the people in this ludicrously small apartment! It's not too bad, though, they're leaving tomorrow and it's really going to be quite sad, especially for Jess. They were a little piece of home and family that she always had around. Sure, we'll always have skype, but it's just a shame things didn't work out.

Two recent developments: my writer's block has been smashed with extreme prejudice when it comes to my independent end-of-year project (the one that counts for a ludicrous amount of my grade and is basically a self-financed short film). I'm working on the concept and a rough draft of the script, and soon I'll be filming a teaser for potential backers. That's right, this sucker's gonna be crowdfunded! More details as they come, but the ideas are coming at an awesome rate. Stay tuned and don't worry: I'm also working on a great video for the end of the month.

The other development? I think I'm getting a cold. Crap.

Movie of the day: The Muppet Movie. Yes, it's dated and corny, but it's so incomprehensibly charming and sincere that it's easier to bite your own finger off than to hate it. Most of the songs are actually really good, even today, and some of the jokes are just awesome (Steve Martin is a surprise scream). The ending song still gets me a little choked up. I'm not sure how a modern kid would handle it, but for those who remember the Muppets, it's pure childhood.

Song of the day: D.A.N.C.E by Justice. Catchy and mind-blowingly dancey, this is one of those you can't help bobbing your head to, and the production is just deliriously enthusiastic. Play it on a good day to make you feel even better. I love the funky retro vibe it gives without pandering or losing it's originality.

And I Ride And I Ride

Well, I made it through yesterday's bout of gloominess... Only to run into a whole new set of problems today. We had to set up a new fridge that was given to us because my sister-in-law is moving back to America, which we had to do in the first real rainfall of the year, then just as we had finished moving everything into place and caught our breath, we got a knock on the door and found out that, through no fault of theirs, that same family has to stay with us for four more days, starting today. We were actually somewhat prepared for this as we knew that they needed somewhere to stay, but we expected them tomorrow and only for the one day! Our apartment is already nastily tiny, I hope we can fit 2 adults and 4 children in here... As I said, it wasn't their fault, but man it's still tough. Despite that, I did manage to gett the next Nancy Drew video up and ready, though. Stil not sure what to do for next week.

Not to mention it was also me and Jess' Two year anniversary today! Well, technically it's tomorrow as we got married in America on the 6th, but eh, whatever. Despite all that's been happening we still managed to have some fancy mexican and took a nice road trip. To those who follow my twitter, every year I mention that I'm not seeing the downside of marriage yet. Still not seeing it. It's awesome.

Movie of the day: Waking Life. This is a film done entirely in experimental rotoscoping, kind of like "A Scanner, Darkly" (by the same director) but way more out there. It's pretty much a treatise on philosophy and the power of dreams, and although it makes some interesting points, I felt like it said all it needed to say in the first half hour. It could have een a great short film, but it's stuck being a mediocre arthouse flick. I just find it bizarre that this director, Richard Linklater, not only directed this but also Dazed And Confused, Tape, Before Sunrise and... School Of Rock? Bad News Bears? You never know what he's going to do next.

Song of the day: The Passenger by Iggy Pop. This song was used in the trailer for Waking Life, and I thought it was awesome. May be a bit repetitive for some, but you can't deny the guy has a compelling and unique voice, even if he does look like Gollum.

Thumbs Down

Been a bit of a downer this last time period. Last night I decided to really get down to it and record not only the next Suede Played, but also a test run for my First Impressions series. Nancy Drew went fine, even though I'm not quite as pleased with this one as I was with the earlier ones (of course that probably means it'll be the most popular, that's just how critic's luck works). But as for streaming... ugh, I don't think I'll be able to do it after all. It feels like the internet in New Zealand is years behind any other first world country. My plan not only has a download cap (very few can afford unlimited downloads) and in terms of speed... well, let's just sum it up here. In the current state of the internet in my country I cannot afford a connection either fast enough to stream HD, or 'wide' enough to allow me to stream regularly without eating up my download limit. Live and learn, I suppose, but it is quite disheartening. I suppose I should get back to my scripted reviews, at least I know they'll upload.

Another downer is that Roger Ebert passed away, as I'm sure you all know. Since I didn't grow up in america, I wasn't as influenced by him as others, but I've seen the impact he had on so many filmmakers and entertainers I respect. I guess you could say I wish I had known him better than I did.

Well, now to try and make people laugh at pokemon! *sigh*...

Movie of the day: Ip Man: The Legend Is Born. Yet another depressing thing about the week. I spotted this in the video store, hearing great things about it and  some awesome reviews. Then, when I saw it, I was really, really underwhelmed. I had some decent kung fu, for sure, and the actors do their best but it was really dull, predictable and bordring on anti-japanese propanganda. I just didn't understand why people thought so highly of it... and then I looked it up on IMDB and realised that what I got was actually the second sequel to the one everyone was raving about, a prequel showing how he began! Well that was depressing.

Song of the day: Graveyard by Jason Hayes, Tracy W. Bush, Derek Duke, and Glenn Stafford. Completing this thoroughly depressing day, have one of the nicest dying soundtracks in videogames. Dying almost didn't seem so bad when the awesome music came on. Perfect serenity. Wish me luck that tomorrow won't be like this!

Believe In Me

Yep, It's back to the daily grind, learning a software I really don't have much interest in learning but kind of have to if I'm going to get an entry level job (although I'd prefer to work in production rather than post). Tonight I'll record a new Nancy Drew and start preparing for both the streams and the proper review at the end of the month. There have been so many times I've tried to organise my life, hopefully this time it'll work out. I need to decide in a day to release my weekly vids. I'm leaning towards Saturday, but maybe Friday would be a better choice since more people will be at work or school...?

I've been playing a few of those done-in-five-minutes art games. Check out Every Day The Same Dream and Freedom Bridge, but only if you don't mind feeling really depressed. Games can really draw you in through the simplest things.

Movie of the day: Le Voyage Dans La Lune. This is available to watch for free (it's public domain) and it's only a quarter of an hour long, so there's really no excuse to check it out. This is the masterpiece (or at least the signature piece) of Georges Melies, the man who pretty much invented special effects. It's a heady feeling of human accomplishment to watch a film that's over a hundred and ten years old. Not to mention it's still awesome in a campy overte top way. check out his other work too, you can just feel the enthusiasm he had for it in each picture.

Song of the day: Tonight, Tonight by Smashing Pumpkins. Yeah, this is partly because the music video is a tribute to the above film, but I've always really love this song anyway. When lush, vibrant strings are pulled off well in pop music it's a thing of beauty. Too bad it only happens about once a decade. Billy Corgan's vocals take some getting used to, but at least you can get used to them.

Here You Are, And There's Where You Want To Be

All right. OK. I have been screwing up my schedule long enough and now I need to start over. Let this day (ironically April Fools in America) mark a new beginning for the blog in which I take it more seriously and get it done promptly every day. Forward!

Keeping with this new resolution, I've decided to keep a stricter schedule and I'm even starting arrangements to put out videos weekly, even with my busy student life. The answer? Streaming! Well, in a sense. This is the idea: I do a streaming episode each week, then put it up on blip at the end of the week. That way my die hard fans can watch as I review live, and the casual fans can see it later. What are these streaming shows, you may ask? Well, the first is a first impressions series I'm calling (at the moment) 'Nani Desu ka?' where I watch the first episode of an old or new anime on crunchyroll and give my two cents on it as I watch it. I still need to ask crunchy roll permission to do so, but hopefully everything will work out. The other one is a reboot of an series that seems to have fallen by the wayside: AMV Heaven. This time, instead of editing together a proper review each time, it'll be in radio/VJ format, introducing them, watching them and giving my opinion.

So, here's my ideal schedule, hopefully beginning this week (maybe next):

First Friday of the month: Nancy Drew
Second: Nani Desu Ka?
Third: AMV Heaven
Fourth: Proper review

How does that sound? Think it'll fly? I guess we'll just have to see...

Movie of the day: Hugo. This is a very good movie, and it taught me and my wife quite a few amazing things that we really weren't aware of. It's amazingly intriguing, but unfortunately I can't quite tell you what's intriguing about it without spoiling major plot points. Let's just say anyone with a love of film owes it to themselves to see this. Also, did you know that automatons like the one in the movie really did exist? It's insane!

Song of the day: Start Over by Abandoned Pools. This was the last son played in the TV series Clone High, a show I can't say I was a huge fan of, but I did admire the concept and ideas it had. I also really liked this song. It's pretty standard college fare, but there's this maturity and darkness to the production that elevates it above regular pieces of the genre.

You Can't Handle The Truth

It's been very relaxed lately. Now that I finished the review I have a little downtime to a) prepare for the next one and b) catch up on the gaming I missed out on because I was sweating bullets rather than shooting them. That statement doesn't quite work, though, as I haven't been playing any shooting games, so... eh, just forget it.

As I said, I recently took advantage of the steam indie sale and got some games I'd been meaning to try while they were dirt cheap.

First is Recettear. There's something really charming about this game, maybe it stems from the fact that it ostensibly looks like something that was made in RPG maker. However, the assets are great, the concept and execution are staggeringly unique and wonderfully done, and it even has an intriguing story and very good voice acting (even if it isn't full voice acting). I guess you can expect no less from a Japanese indie game. I have only two complaints: The combat can get a little grind-y, and the picture stretches when I take it into full screen. Other than that. fully recommended. My wife has become obsessed with it.

Next is Thomas Was Alone. I can't give a full opinion yet, but so far, it's very much a triumph in game storytelling. Each rectangle has a distinct personality, but here's the thing: they somehow were able to convey that personality through their jump animation alone. It's insane. I very much want to see how it all comes together.

Lastly I got They Bleed Pixels. This one I can understand why people wouldn't dig it, but I love it simply because of the wonderful nostalgia it gives me. It reminds me of playing commander Keen over and over again. The art in particular has a real old-school adventure game feel to it, even though it's an action-platformer. It's also got this very consistent and appealing 'happy goth' style throughout and has gloriously satisfying combat. Lots of claret though, just a warning for the squeamish.

Movie of the day: A Few Good Men. Speaking of a warning for the squeamish: If you can get past the foul language in this movie, this is a wonderful courtroom drama with fantastic performances that show exactly why these actors were the cream of the crop at the time. I had no idea Tom Cruise was so good at shouting! There are lots of great subtle cues throughout the movie to look out for, and my goodness is it refreshing to see a romantic relationship begin in a movie, but not even get past the kissing stage. Isn't that more realistic? A relationship needs time to develop and you can use your imagination to guess how things will turn out without having the script ruin it for you. Very, very cool, just wish they were a bit more restrained in the language department.

Song of the Day: Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Very much in the vein of The Pixies' 'Where Is My Mind?", this is raw simplicity that somehow makes a compelling beauty. Still have no idea why they called it Maps, though. Or why the Black Eyed Peas felt the need to use it.

To Know The Unknown

Getting the video done in time was an intense experience, and because of that I missed a couple of days. Darn it. But, on the upside, MY REVIEW IS FINALLY UP!

I didn't have time to do a final pass for errors, so I acknowledge that there are some minor animation glitches in it. I'll reupload with improved video later.

So far, this seems like one of my best received reviews, which is odd considering I had such horrific writer's block for it. I struggled so hard with the script I eventually just started writing whatever came into my head and hoping it stuck. I guess I should do that more often! I was also pleased the opening went over well, making JW's head in 3D was a challenge as I had to reteach myself Maya.

But yeah, finally! Phew, now that it's Good Friday I can finally catch up on some gaming I've been missing and take advantage of that Steam Indie sale! I got Recettear, They Bleed Pixels and Thomas Was Alone, and I'm enjoying them all thoroughly. Here's to a shorter interim before the next review!

Movie of the day: See above.

Song of the day: Here's To You by Joan Baez. I love it when a filmmaker finds a really obscure song and makes it prominent. A slow version of this song was in the closing credits of MGS4. I actually think I like the earlier version better, mainly because I find the vocalist more appealing.

Sketchbook Sunday, Part The Tenth

Only a couple of sketches today, so I can get back to editing. i raaly need to snap the schedule back, doing the blog the day after really isn't working out.

This was the first time I realised I could do clothing decoration, I didn't even attempt it before this   and now I can't stop. The wings are a total fluke, haven't been able to draw decent ones since.

This is a near textbook example of my favorite character design style. Not overtly attractive but still slick and cool, sharp yet curved lines and anime-ESQUE without looking like a ripoff. nose is a bit big, but maybe that just adds character.

Movie of the day: Legend Of The Drunken Master. It might not be the absolute best classic Jackie Chan kung fu movie, but it's a good starting point (It's where I started) and it has a surprisingly good dub with Jackie himself dubbing himself. All that and of course, spectacular choreography with no stunt doubles. can't ask for much more in a mindless beat 'em up.

Song of the day: Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing) by Benny Goodman. You'll recognise this song as soon as you hear it, and then you'll want to dance. Involuntarily. It's one of those songs that are timeless in their head-bobability, and now you know the title.

I Must Awake, My Life To Make

Constant editing makes Suede feel woozy. I worked on the review for the majority of the day, then as a small break we went to Jess's sisters to play board games. My favourite we played was one called "A Case Of Scruples" Where you had to prove to everyone else what you feel you would do in a random morally ambiguous situation. There's a lot more to it, but I'd love to see some producers from TGWTG play it! If you're interested, here's the wiki page. Now, back to the salt mines!

Movie of the day: Men In Black 3. As I mentioned before, I think the original MIB was one of my favourite blockbuster movies, just because everything seemed to click. Not so with this one. Although it was funny enough and there are some very fun scenes, I felt K was flanderised and I still can't get over that they took away his happy ending from the first one. K was meant to be training J to be his replacement, now they've been together 12 years? No wonder K's so warn out! I guess this is all from a fanboy perspective, but from a regular film-goers point of view, there was still one thing that really bugged me. They built up Boris as being this expanse of tentacles, but we never saw him in his true form until two seconds before it didn't even matter anymore! I guess I'm biased, but it really could have been better.

Song of the day: Son Of The Lonely Mountain by Liam Finn. One of the best things about the first Hobbit movie. Mister Finn (a New Zealand music icon) is certainly right: Pop music needs more anvil.

It Can Make You Wonder Why

Hard at work on editing the review. Can't really give much more info, sorry. I actually had to make a 3D object in Maya today for the review, it was interesting seeing both how much I remember and how much I forgot. On Tuesday, all will be revealed. Now, back to work!

Movie of the day: Igor. I really wanted to like this movie, the design and preproduction is just wonderful, and it's a real underdog of an animated film. It's just a shame the script needed a ton of work, the comic timing was way off in too many places, and it pandered too much to the kids, which is weird because some of the material is freakin' dark! It's as if they really wanted to make a more-for-grown-ups family film in the vein of Coraline, but got a ton of executive meddling. I guess all I see when I watch it is what it could have been, and when you actually prefer the status quo at the beginning over the happy ending, something's gone wrong. Awesome design, though.

Song of the day: Bein Green by Joe Raposo. Look up the Ray Charles studio version of this song, that's my personal favourite for the raw emotion that's poured into it. There are two songs from the muppets that can still get an emotional response from me. The first is the Rainbow Connection, the second is this one. Unlike Rainbow connection, which can sound a bit hippy toady, Green has a real timelessness to it that's always able to pick me up when I'm depressed about my lot in life.

I Want To Break Free

All right, yesterday I didn't do much that I can write about, so I'm not going to write much. I think you'll like the reason why, though: I'm on the home stretch on editing the pokemon 3 review! Yaaay! For that reason, I won't be writing much in my blog because that's all I'll be doing, and I can't really talk much about it. I will say that Nuke is getting maybe the tiniest bit better, even if not by much. Hope it continues like that.

Movie of the day: Lagaan. If you liked 3 Idiots and want another relatively easy-access Bollywood film, this is the only other one I've watched and enjoyed (so far). A three hour historical musical about cricket. And they make it intriguing and interesting! Only in India, I guess.

Song of the day: Black Or Free by DJ Mighty Mike. Ha! I bet you thought it was going to b another Queen song! Well, I guess it is... Kinda. It's a wonderfully precise mashup that won the guy an award! Check it out.

Aal Izz Well

Nuke is kicking my butt three ways from Sunday, it really really is. I'm actually starting to get pretty depressed about it, to be honest. I was able to learn After Effects at a pretty reasonable pace, Heck I was even able to get the absolute basics of Maya (a 3d modeling program) eventually, and I could tell I was improving. Nuke, though... If anything I feel like I'm moving backwards. It's doubly frustrating when you hear from the tutors that the best way to secure a job in the film industry is to know how to use it (rotoscoping is one of the most common entry-level positions). Darn it, I want to get out there and MAKE films! I know I have to understand all levels of production in order to be a good director, and I do! But I don't want to kill myself on a program I probably won't personally use my whole career! Sigh... despite that, all I can do is hope that it's like Magic: The Gathering, ludicrously confusing until this one 'click' moment where although you're nowhere near mastering it, you finally 'get' it. I really, really, hope this is the case...

Movie of the day: 3 Idiots. Luckily, my sucky day was alleviated somewhat by the pleasant surprisse that was this film! It's a Bollywood film... Wait, come back here! Look, I don't blame you in the slightest for giving this on a pass. Not only is it a Bollywood film, with all the stigma that that comes with, but it's a buddy comedy and the posters don't exactly do it any favours. the only hint that this is anything other than garbage is the fact that it is now the highest grossing Bollywood film of all time, and the most internationally well-received. Well, I saw it, and... Yeah, it's really darn good! Yes, it has the staples of the genre (song and dance numbers, awkward musical cues, melodrama, three-hour runtime) and it starts off looking really underwhelming, but... what can I say, despite all that it's really good! The staples are a lot less obnoxious than your average Indian production, the humor is genuinely good in places and it throws some really unexpected curveballs at you! I mean it, if you can see some of the twists coming in this film you are flippin' prophetic. The best part is the message, though. It may be a little trite, but the message this movie tries so hard to get across is one of universal appeal, one that needs to be heard by everyone every now and again. It's also quite an eye-opening insight into certain aspects of Indian life. If you want to give Bollywood a shot, this is the film to start on. It's even available on Youtube for free, legally, here (although you'll have to get the DVD for higher quality)! now there's no excuse! check it out if you have an afternoon free.

Song of the day: Time Of The Turning (Reprise) / The Weaver's Reel by Peter Gabriel. The Bollywood has put me in a world music mood! I always imagined this song to be the opening for the Avatar: The Last Airbender if I directed it and / or it didn't suck. Really dynamic, really heart pumping.

Release The Heater!

It's starting to get cold. This means it suddenly becomes easier to rip my own teeth out than get out of bed. This'll be an interesting challenge for my resolve to have a better schedule.

Took Jess to the midwife today and we heard the heartbeat. It's darn freaky, but strangely compelling at the same time. I guess it's the genetics talking. Jess is actually planning to take a vacation to the USA before she's grounded for a fair while, of which I am insanely jealous. But, career comes first I suppose.

We actually stopped by the library on the way home! My gosh, every time I remember to visit that place I'm reminded of how stupid I am for forgetting about it. The local library actually has a very decent manga selection as well as a good choice of trade paperbacks for american comics and a great variety to choose from. Not to mention the checkout system is now fully self service, so no more awkward looks from the librarian! It's become the library I always dreamed about as a kid: A Borders bookstore where everything's free! For more information please consult your local library.

Movie of the day: Clash Of The Titans. This is almost the definition of a guilty pleasure movie. The plot is paper thin, the characters are negligible, but gosh darn it if doesn't seem like the big budget equivalent of  kids making a home movie, throwing in every cool thing they can think of. I can even forgive the bald-faced affronts to real greco-roman mythology simply through the fact that you can tell, easily, that they didn't care and they just wanted ever so badly to make a ludicrously fun movie. I can't say it succeeds spectacularly well in that, but you can just tell when a cast and crew had a ton of fun on a project, and unlike Ocean's 12 or 13, they actually want to let the audience in on it too. Only major gripe I had with it was that Perseus made it very clear from the start that he wanted to face Hades without ANY help from the gods, yet he still accepts Zeus' help multiple times by the end. That and the fact that he seems to hold no real grudge against Zeus even though the guy raped his mother. It's like Mirror's Edge, Seriously flawed but charming enough to have fun with.

Song of the day: Somebody To Love by Queen. Everybody hypes up Queen as these rock legends (which of course they are), but they always seem to ignore the phenomenal songwriting skill they had in standard pop as well. The beautiful lyricism and complexity of the harmonies and parts in this song make me wonder where they went in modern music. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of modern songs that I love to pieces but sheer creativity Queen brought can't be overstated.

As I Go Riding Merrily Along

It was a boring day yesterday, which you would think would make it easier to write a blog entry, but I have a weird OCD quirk (similar to the one that compels me to at least write an entry for each day, if not on each day) that causes me great discomfort if I don't provide some kind of meat in the entry. I went to school, got my soul sucked out of my eyeballs by a program I must learn but has a learning curve like a spiked balcony... What else? Oh wait, we did watch the final projects from the current Diploma of Animation and Digital Filmmaking, which is the course I took last year. You know how whenever you go up a level or a year in school, almost instantly it seems like the next generation are much stupider than you were? I call it the Crotchety Old Man syndrome, and usually it doesn't affect me all that much but man, there was maybe ONE project there out of six that was up to the standard of last year. One student did a music video (which wasn't even an option last year and oh my, now I see why) and not only the filmmaker in me but even the old AMV reviewer in me just screamed for mercy all the way through it. Not colour graded, uninteresting... heck they even committed the cardinal sin of music videos and didn't cut it to the beat! It looked like a sub-standard home movie montage! I don't know if they passed, but man, it was almost insulting. I hope things improve, right now all I can do is be glad I have a little les competition in the job market.

Huh, I guess I did have something to say after all. Yay!

Movie of the day: Men In Black. This is darn close to a perfect blockbuster. Fun, funny, touching, still relevant, ages very gracefully and moves at a wonderfully swift pace. The real revelation to me is Vincent D'Onofrio as Edgar. There is a character who does not fit into his skin in the best possible way. For a more in depth analysis in it that I agree with, check out Lindsay's review.  

Song of the day: Ring-A-Ding, Baby! by Icky. This isn't in fact a remix of the song by Frank Sinatra, but an electroswing remix of Jingle Jangle Jingle by Kay Kyser. I'm quite a fan of electroswing, I think the complex melodies of swing compliment the hard beats very well if done right, and I think this does it very well.