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...but technicolour pachyderms is really too much for me.
2001-11-29 18:08:52
I read a journalist's "opinion" column today which pointed out that there have been eight times as many journalists killed in the war in Afganistan than American soldiers.
This tells me two things. 1) The American military knows what they are doing. 2) The journalists don't. Further into the article it is mentioned that "journalists have been forbidden official entry into some of the hotter areas, so they have started getting inventive." In other words, going into areas they were specifically told not to. Where exactly do they get the gall to do this? I, long ago, had my faith in journalism destroyed when I figured out that their presentation as impartial reporters was anything but true, and their current instinctive distrust and disbelief in anything descending from an authoritative source merely constructs themselves as another voice of "authority," and instinctive belief of the public in the journalist's perspective is even more ludicrous than the trust in authority that the journalists ridicule. (Go, go, run-on sentence!) Impartiality can never be a viable alternative to partiality so long as bad news and fear sell more papers than good news and reassureance. The fact that journalists expect us to blindly believe what they have to say is nothing short of hypocritical. 60 minutes is especially bad at this. Yeah, they've caught a lot of crooks squirming on camera, but they've also destroyed the careers of a lot of honest hardworking people who happened to be on the short end of the political "stick" at the time. The idea that journalists have some kind of intrinsic right to weasel their way into any area, including the front lines of a firefight during a war where they are not only not welcome, but are in the way, is stupid, and is destroying the institution as a whole through their invasions of privacy and defamation of random individual's characters. It's also ruining the few good journalists out there who present an even-handed balanced view of the issues, as the fear-mongers next door sell more papers. ("Could your child be inhaling deadly toxins inside your own home? Tune in at 11 for the facts on radon!")
On the other hand, I just came from a "legal system, business, and ethics" symposium (there was free food) where a quoted source of the legal bar said that in polls people trusted the media least of anyone to tell them the truth. Less than politicians. Less than Lawers. Looks like the public woke up, I should give them more credit.
Thus endeth the rant. *Whew* Now that that's out of my system, EK's questions:
1)Yeah, I've run into both ends of the footage availability problem. Usually, though, it manifests in the "crap, there's another verse" manner, where I'd be happy in ending the video after three minutes because I don't know what to do with that other verse or the other instrumental, and there isn't enough footage to stretch the established theme out. As far as CB and laid-back footage, try watching through a handful of eps. again. CB's a rather laid-back series, but action scenes tend to stick in one's head as characteristic, since there's not much one can remember about a scene with everyone sitting around. You can also generate a bit more footage with clever cutting. Everyone lying around bemoaning their empty stomaches or sick after getting bitten by the fridge-thing can look relaxed, despondent, or even depressed with the right music and removed from context. Repeat cuts aren't even a no-no if done correctly. For the scene at the beginning of Classical Gas, there's actually only three useable clips of Dedlit playing the lute (unuseable ones were from far away, looking at the castle wall, etc.). To use it for the entire section I wanted, I had to repeat two of the clips within 5-6 seconds of their first appearance, and it looked fine.
2)Hrm. I don't really associate music with any actions other than driving...mainly because of what I mentioned in a previous post, that I spend so much time driving and hearing music at work that I just want silence while pursuing other hobbies, or cooking. I do get rather clear and complicated images from some kinds of music (music that doesn't already have images associated with it through videos I've seen, that is). Slow sax music invariably makes me think of darkened cityscapes with just a handful of lights lit in enormous blocky office buildings all seen from a point slightly above street level (like on a bridge) and across a river. I have no idea why. Some of my favorite music is strongly narrative, and I usually have very literal images come to mind while listening to this music, even if the tense is intended to be metaphorical. Just about any music reminds me of driving at this point, but that's more an adaptation of necessity than of aesthetics. -
American Non-Sequitur Society: We don't make sense, but we do like pizza.
2001-11-28 20:59:38
EK: Damn it! That's one I haven't seen! Oh well, I'll catch it next time around.
Today was an entire waste. Spent half the morning laboriously putting together some of the background section of my thesis proposal, and then a power outage blew it all to hell. Power outages are NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN at my work as two hours in the dark could ruin six months work. (Not for me, but some other projects down the lab wing are a lot more delicate.) Had a chance to play chess for the first time in months while we waited for the computers to come back on (lights are on a separate power line) and actually won against a much better player. The only advantage I have is unpredictability and opportunism. (No one ever expects you to charge their queen with your king. Tends to throw them off.)
*minor Spoilers*
Did pick up the second Niea_7 disk last week and watched it a day or so ago. Hrm. I was rather disappointed with the first two episodes, as they were fairly lame "filler" material like you'd find in Love Hina, Ranma or Slayers. Had a few funny points, but were ultimately predictable and lame. First episode was investigating a newly-opened rival bathouse that had a ....special....ingredient added to the steam. (10 points if you guess it right.) The second episode was a video-game tournament held to promote the bathouse, with the obvious sitcom-style results.
Third episode, however, renewed my faith in the show. Quite introspective, it really gave us a good look at the personality of the show's heroine. It was a little angsty and brimming with melancholy, something I'd expect from the makers of Lain. Also, there were a few mysterious incidents along the lines of the ones that got me interested in the show in the first place. - The Dark Knight rebounds... 2001-11-28 11:15:39 KZ: Nah, I was talking about "The Dark Knight Strikes Back." I was under the impression it hadn't come out yet...have I missed it already?
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Tell me, tell me, have you seen the yellow sign?
2001-11-28 01:15:42
EK: Which Batman Beyond episode was it? Missed it today and I've had a hell of a time figuring out which eps I haven't seen. Doesn't the show intro kick ass? Does that art style have a name? I really like most of the BB episodes I've seen, and I attribute their style to the freedom the makers were able to excercise by moving beyond the timeframe "already defined" by the DC comics. The ability to make new arch-villians or postulate on how they might have survived to face the new Batman opened up whole new areas to play around in, instead of having to be careful about stepping on the toes of the comic fans. I liked the first Batman series, but I think it had trouble packing all the backstory into some episodes. (Personal favorites: Clayface intro, Clock King intro, and especially the Mad Hatter intro and "Harley's Day Out") I hated the redesign the series went through in the later seasons. Nearly every character's look suffered, especially Catwoman.
Anyway, if you liked BB, try tracking down the uncut version of the BB movie "Return of the Joker." Great work on all counts, especially since about half of it is a flashback to the time frame of the first Batman cartoon series. The Joker is especially good in both timeframes. The movie manages to bring out the most carefully nuanced aspects of this psychotic madman, and he pulls stunts suitably cruel and insane to really set him on a level above all the other Batman villans. It's also nice to see Mark Hammel doing such good work. (I say get the uncut version just so you don't have to wonder at what you're missing. I find that the most annoying aspect of the censoring.)
Oh...everyone knows that Frank Miller has agreed to do another Dark Knight series, right?
(Uh, don't know the other voice actors you asked for. Sorry.)
Just finished watching the taped ep. of Buffy. Series is somehow managing to go uphill and downhill simultaneously. Some stuff getting interesting, but simultaneously completely destroying the believability of some of the characters. I think Alison Hannigen (sp?) had her acting abilities stretched to the limit about a season ago, and is just floundering with this overly-complicated angst-ridden mess of a character the writers have saddled her with. (Lesbian, witch, and now a drug addict!) Too bad. She used to be one of my favorite characters. -
Broccoli is getting pissed!
2001-11-27 01:37:03
Since I don't feel like talking about the homework waiting for me when I get up tomorrow....
Anyone else out there watch the latest episode of Justice League? As this third episode was the conclusion of the first plot arc following the premier, I can start to judge the relative merits of the series.
**Spoilers ahead!**
I'm sorry, but it was dumb.
First off, whenever Batman isn't with the team, their collective IQ drops about 50 points. Second, the Manhunters' (non-Martian, that is) plan was, as my friend described the Cyclons in Battlefield Earth, "Plot-endangeringly stupid." The fact that ANYONE fell for it is mind-boggling. A Green Lantern fires a beam at a fleeing pirate ship, who deflects it, and the deflected beam BLOWS UP A PLANET?? Now, I'm certian that Green Lanterns have missed or had deflected beams before, and I'm pretty certian that the stray shots haven't destroyed planetary bodies before, so the GLs themselves should have been a little more incredulous about the matter. Of course, we discover later that it was all a HOLOGRAPHIC PROJECTION??? OK, let's say that you're in a solar system with mutiple populated planets, and one blows up. What's the first thing you do? Look for survivors? Fly to the site? Look for evidence? Scan the area? Wonder why the hell the planet's moon is still circling empty space? Any number of things that would result in a ship NOT hitting flying debreis, and running straight into a planet that wasn't there? Hell, the entire trial took place on a planet close enough to the destroyed planet to visually observe all the planetary fragments. Shouldn't they be worried about incoming asteroids? That stray moon? The change in gravity distribution sending them into their sun? What about all the people on the missing planet? They all just decide to shut up and not go anywhere for the week? And what's with the trial? One witness under an (apparently malfunctioning) truth beam and no one questions his logic-defying story? Hell, someone should at least go and see that he saw what he thought he saw. Hard evidence? Anyone? Bueller?
Don't get me wrong, the show isn't a total loss. There was a mildly amusing bit about "solving the lawer problem," and the battle with the Manhunters was the first time in the show where I just went "cool." The Flash especially got a chance to shine in a sequence with him avoiding an autocannon. Hawkwoman is also turning out to be one of my favorite characters. She's a cop, she can fly, and she hits things...with a MACE! This is the sum total of her character, and she's still out-acting most of the rest of the cast. She's been described as the new Aquaman, but he was always a lot more schtick-y. And useless. Her typical quote:
"Rrrrraaaaaahhhhhhhhggggg!!!!! *Clang*"
What I can't understand is the loss of an animation opportunity in the GL corps. Yeah, it's neat seeing some of the standard old-school characters from the comics (what few I recognize...only read a few GL comics), but I always understood that the rings were used to make giant green...stuff. Things. Giant scissors, hammers, scoop-shovels, stuff like that, which were used to get the job done. Here it's just blasting people with green lasers. The most complicated thing anyone's made thus far is a wall. It would even be a legitimate way to slip CG animation into the series.
Thus endeth the rant.
Just finished entering (very belatedly) the data on my Land of Confusion video done to Giant Robo. Sorry, no download site available. (No time to run a server, and Waldo's is down anyway...)
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