We watched N&H the first night, and it was everything I remembered and more. The copy that I had seen (repeatedly) was recorded from cable some time in the 80’s, and had been watched so many times that the quality was piss-poor, so the digital quality of DVD was immediately noticeable. The movie as a whole was just as I had remembered. Tommy Lee Jones played Bully Hayes as he plays most characters; cool. Michael O’Keefe’s performance makes you want to gouge your eyes out, but then the character of Nate isn’t supposed to be likeable until halfway through the movie. The poor performance makes this challenging, however, and left my wife with a poor impression of the movie. This was a part of my teen years, and it was her first viewing, so she didn’t have the nostalgia that I did.

The next night we watched TPM. When I first added it to my queue, netflix pointed out that people that liked it also liked Xanadu, which I had already seen. This should have been an indication as to its quality. TPM was based on The Pirates of Penzance, and was a musical. Yes, a pirate musical starring the guy from The Blue Lagoon. The whole movie is a dream sequence, and carries with it a level of silliness that only a dream-sequence-pirate-musical can. There were not so subtle references to Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, each of which had me saying, “Aww, come on!” So blatant, and so silly. When the movie was over, I was coming to terms with loving it for being so bad. Now that several days have passed, I love to hate it.

So, all ye pirate lovers, and land-lubbers, ye be warned, says I.

The first time I held the wand, I almost didn’t know I was holding anything. Unless playing something complex, like Zelda, the controller is pretty much two buttons (one under the thumb, the other a trigger) combined with the motion control. As there is little button use in that hand, and the controller is so small, you almost forget you’re holding anything at all. The motion is completely free, allowing you the full range of motiong for your wrist. When using the nunchuku along with the wand, you have an analog joystick and two more buttons for your index fingers (both triggers), and the nunchuku also has motion control.

The various minigames I played demonstrated the full scope of this system, and I have to say it is truly revolutionary. That wasn’t just a clever title. Games as we know them are totally different. I used the wand as a samurai sword, a baseball bat, a tennis racket, a ping pong paddle, the reins of a horse, a throwing dart, and a condutor’s baton. There were games that had me doing the hula as fast as I could, moving my hands as though I were running, and shooting ducks a la Duck Hunt.

The wand functions as a mouse, as well. In Zelda you go to your map, item screen, etc. by ponting at the portion of the screen and selecting. Again, the whole scope has changed.

Expect big things from this system, and expect me to disappear for a month when it’s released.

This new site is called Lights Will Guide You Home.

Yes, the name is taken from a Coldplay lyric. However, the site itself will be a catalogue of Burning Man experiences. Mostly my own, but the site will be opened to the public to post their own.

Neat, huh?

The entire cast is hilarious. Every member of this family is a well developed character, whether we’re talking about the responsible brother, played by Jason Bateman, that has to tie the family and the family business together, the father who is in jail (hence the need to keep everything together), the manipulative mother that seems to undo all that he does, his older brother (a failed magician), his younger brother (he’s pretty much retarded), his twin sister (unemployed, sexy, and lazy), his brother in law (a therapist turned actor played brilliantly by David Cross), or his son (a confused teenager that has the hots for his cousin).

The basic story line is that the father of this family goes to jail because he was stealing money and doing generally shady shit. The family is now broke, and they are not comfortable with that.

Must watch. I’m already half way through the 2nd of 3 discs, and I intend to watch them again with Milca, who was wary about watching them until she heard me rant.

Dan, I love you. Thank you!

ICE stands for In Case of Emergency. If you add an entry in the contacts list in your cell phone under ICE, with the name and phone number of the person that the emergency services should call on your behalf, you can save them a lot of time and have your loved ones contacted quickly. It only takes a few moments of your time to do.

Paramedics know what ICE means and they look for it immediately. ICE
your cell phone NOW!

Anyways, this thing is amazing. Download, install, then double click somewhere on the globe. Then have it search for Paris, France (find the Eifel Tower). Then have it search for your address and fly home. Then click the local tab and search for movie times or some chain of eateries you like. Wow. Check out the Twin Towers construction site. Wow. Wow. Wow. Visit Eaton Canyon and tilt the camera way down and SEE how big the mountains are – even follow the old path (or you can fly around the Grand Canyon – it’s under “places” – just double click it)!!! GOD DAMN THIS THING!!!! And it still has room to be better…play with the layers – crime stats, freeway maps, local eateries, gas stations, banks…and the list goes on and on. Ok, one last thing. Turn on 3D buildings and go to LA. Tilt and rotate the camera to your heart’s content. GOD DAMN IT! Wait, isn’t this what we say we don’t want terrorists to be able to do? :shrug:

Sorry. I’m a little bit excited. DOWNLOAD IT!!!

In related news, imagine what the Government has access to! I’m never leaving my home again. I’m going now to clean my underwear.

I like leaving on a journey at this time.

I do NOT like being the one who awakes to facilitate the embarking on a journey, but then has to go back to bed, wake up – AGAIN – and go to work at 8:30 the next morning.

It especially rankles me to have to drive through the seedy parts of Los Angeles (with all the scary homeless people standing around and staring at you as you drive by) in order to accomplish this.

The final irritation is to wake up (the second time), sleepy as hell, knowing that somewhere, someone (not YOU!) is speeding down a freeway (even if it has to be by way of bus) on his way to parts unknown.

Sigh.

Distinguishing the case from Universal v. Sony where the court recognized “the substantial non-infringing uses” of VCR’s as a defense to liability, today’s court held that, “where evidence goes beyond a product’s characteristics or the knowledge that it may be put to infringing uses, and shows statements or actions directed to promoting infringement, Sony’s staple-article rule will not preclude liability.”

This evidence centered on an advertisement and marketing scheme, whereby both Grokster and Streamcast sought to capture Napster’s former audience by promising access to more copyrighted work than ever, through a new sort of decentralized/unmonitored network which would not be vunlnerable to liability under the Napster decision.

Grokster has been remanded to the lower court for a final decision, but the legs of the defense have been kicked right out. The court has stated that, “one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties.” The court concludes by ordering consideration of summary judgement for MGM. In my novice eyes, the situation does not look good for Grokster and Streamcast.

On the bright side, I suppose it’s only a matter of time before some new corporation puts this standard to the test by promoting its filesharing software *as intended solely for the sharing of non-infringing files*, taking every step to warn against copying, and no steps to actually prevent it – because monitoring would just be too expensive right? Grokster and Streamcast piggy-backed on Napster just like that and got away with it for a couple of good years before this decision, making tons of money through advertising revenue targeted at a user base of 100 million.

The question is not if, but when someone will take the small steps necessary to escape the reach of this decision and fill the market gap left by the collapse of Grokster and Morpheus. They just can’t document the plan to be the next big thing like Grokster did. (locating the company in international waters or in a 3rd world nation which doesn’t follow TRIPS might also be good thinking.)

Limewire seems to be the hot stuff these days – I imagine we’ll soon see if they’ve been careful enough to withstand the fallout of this decision.

Link to Grokster Decision

Along the same lines is Winter. The snowsuits and the feeling of waking up to a snow day. The hush of the snow covered world, the hot chocolate and the watching of fat snowflakes as they fall past your window. The twilight as you’re still outside, soaked to the skin, red nose and cheeks. That last slide down the snowbank.

(Ahh, just thinking about it is making me cold!)

But Summer…sweet, sweet Summer.

When I think of Summer, I think of warm nights where you sit on the porch into dark. You don’t need a sweater, and you don’t need to put the light on. You descend into the night on a darkness that breathes. Crickets and frogs, fire crackers in July, the neighborhood kids playing kick the bucket.

I think of the house with the windows and doors all flung wide open. The buttery sunshine that plays on the floor. The fan that you sit in front of when you’re hit full force by the heat and humidity that come with Summer. You’re constantly wilted and sweaty, but isn’t it good?

I think of the beach in the evening, after they stop making you pay to get in, and the worst of the heat has gone. Hot dogs, hamburgers, italian sandwiches with potato chips, macaroni salad. And the mountains of sand in the bathtub after you get home.

Summer is for (what else?) Summer Camp. Where you giggle in the darkness even after repeated reprimands from the counselors. Campfires, and doughboys, and silly songs and mosquitos and the craft shack and swimming lessons.

Summer is also for canoe trips. Where you pitch your tent on the shore of the river, and it’s SO SO dark that you can see a billion stars and the twinkling fireflies. Where you are SO SO far from civilization that the only noise you hear is the water and the hum of insects.

It’s like comfort food. Only it lasts a whole three months.

As I got older, I entered new phases of life. Summer jobs, college classes. And now, as Summer starts this year I sit in an office and look out the window and yearn to be frolicking in the grass or setting up a roadside lemonade stand.

Summer won’t ever be the same, but, goddamn, when the sun comes out and the days get longer, and I can step outside without a coat…I know my time has come.