Now, where was I?

i feel bad for the thousands of kids every year who have to watch the end of gattaca in public & try not to dissolve into a puddle of tears under their desks. when i was in 7th grade my math teacher showed us pay it forward even though it's barely relevant. does it delight you to see tears on my face, or what

Thu, 31 May 2012 19:05:53 -0400

the kind of tears that may come from Gattaca are the good kind, i think. the kind that come from manipulative garbage like Country Strong (mainly the last 10 minutes) are dangerous. a genuine catharsis is always good for the soul, and that’s what the story of Vincent Anton Freeman provides.

and i already showed Awakenings to this class so Gattaca was lighthearted in comparison. :)

It’s that time of year again when I show Gattaca to my...

Wed, 30 May 2012 00:02:37 -0400

It’s that time of year again when I show Gattaca to my Psychology students. This movie perfectly captures the essence of the nature vs. nurture debate. I’ve seen this movie many times and tonight was the first time that I noticed this shot. I’m almost ashamed that I hadn’t noticed that the staircase was such an obvious depiction of the double helix.

Before the movie, I’ll give my students a quick rundown of genetics (because they should have covered this in Biology already). We’ll also be looking at various studies that have been done over the past 30 years that have given good supporting arguments for both sides of the nature vs. nurture debate. I hope that having some solid background information on the topic will increase their enjoyment of Andrew Niccol’s modern masterpiece.

And if all of that fails, at least they’ll be able to gawk at the pretty faces on-screen.

My copy of the new Garbage album and the extra one I bought for...

Wed, 23 May 2012 21:34:19 -0400

My copy of the new Garbage album and the extra one I bought for a redheaded friend’s birthday because I thought she would feel like Shirley was her long-lost matriarch.

Listening to the CD in my car today in all of its high bitrate glory was…glorious.

‘Picture Perfect Launch’ For Private Rocket Headed...

Tue, 22 May 2012 09:30:33 -0400

‘Picture Perfect Launch’ For Private Rocket Headed To Space Station

The history of the future. Thank you, Elon Musk, for carrying the torch.

Welcome back, boys and girl. I’ve missed you.

Tue, 15 May 2012 21:33:28 -0400

Welcome back, boys and girl. I’ve missed you.

A friend told me about this piece of Hulk history, saying that I...

Tue, 08 May 2012 18:01:31 -0400

A friend told me about this piece of Hulk history, saying that I would find Peter David’s writing to be very interesting. Bruce Banner is portrayed as suffering from multiple personality disorder (now known as dissociative identity disorder). Last week, I ordered the trade paperback above which covers Incredible Hulk issues 331-339. It’s written by David and illustrated by Todd McFarlane and John Ridgway.

Really excited to jump into the beginning of Peter David’s 100-plus-issue run later tonight.

Malukah is at it again. This is her new tribute song for the...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 01:23:06 -0400

Malukah is at it again. This is her new tribute song for the Mass Effect games. Clint Mansell’s compositions for the third game in the series added an extra level of gravitas, and it’s great to hear Malukah’s voice interpreting the emotions I felt while fighting the reapers.

Latest PROMETHEUS Rating Talk: “Not One Frame Will Be Cut”

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:31:24 -0400

Latest PROMETHEUS Rating Talk: “Not One Frame Will Be Cut” :

This is very good news. Check out a snippet of the article below, and read the the whole thing at the link above.

——————————————————————-

The latest word on the rating comes from Tom Rothman, head cheese over at Fox, and he says the following:

“This I can tell you and I can tell all the fans, not one frame will be cut. The movie will be what it should be. We will not cut a frame of the film. We will stand behind it 100 percent and if that means it’s an R, then so be it, because not an ounce, not a percentage are we going to compromise the film.”

Behind Every Great Pixel

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:26:32 -0400

Behind Every Great Pixel:

The staff at Kill Screen provide me with daily enlightenment regarding the topic of play, storytelling, and game design. This is one of their best pieces yet. Read the opening paragraphs below or click through (on the title here or the link below) to see the whole thing. This is really good stuff.

——————————————————————

You’ve heard her soft voice probably a thousand times before. The supportive tech lady from your story-driven shooter. She usually fades into the background, easy to ignore until your videogame prompts you to pay attention to her. Maybe she needs saving. She probably needs saving.

The soft-voiced lady, perhaps a lab technician or military personnel—maybe even some sort of fairy—is a mainstay in the videogame world. She is basically forgettable. You’re the star. She supports. That’s what she does.

She’s Cortana in the Halo series; EDI in Mass Effect; Guardian Angel in Borderlands; Elena Ivanova in Vanquish. Sometimes she’s a little saltier, like Shaundi from the Saints Row series. Sometimes she’s just a helper; often she’s a lover; and occasionally, she turns out to be evil after all. Sometimes she isn’t a “she” at all, like Boone from Fallout: New Vegas, Sully from Uncharted, or Wheatley from Portal 2.

Whatever her permutation, she conforms to an archetype. A variation on either the “princess” in distress, or the reassuring, supportive mage or healer found primarily in role-playing games (notably Japanese titles like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, or EarthBound), she is more or less enslaved to work on your behalf. She fills in the plot with valuable intelligence, pulls strings in the background by overriding locked doors, and pilots vehicles to usher you from place to place. She serves you, or she serves the story. As such, she sets the stage for you, hero.

——————————————————————

http://www.killscreendaily.com/articles/essays/behind-every-great-pixel/

moviemimic: Movie: InceptionActor: Joseph...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:11:47 -0400

moviemimic:

Movie: Inception
Actor: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Location: Paris, France
Photographer: Jazz Gabriel

I may have found my favorite blog. Allen Fuqua takes the time to mimic shots from movies whenever he travels. The photo above may not seem very interesting to the casual viewer, but I chose to reblog this one because it’s just a little side street that we see for maybe one second during Inception which suddenly becomes very real when you see it in real life. That’s what happened to me when I saw the bar from the end of Frankenheimer’s Ronin, except I didn’t have the time to take a good picture of it. But I did get to take the photo below while standing on the top floor of Centre Pompidou, which felt a lot like the last few frames of the establishing shot of Paris in Inception.

Now I’m inspired to plan ahead for these moments when I travel.

Photos from my trip to Germany

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 02:03:46 -0400

Hello friends. I have finally uploaded my photos from Germany. It took about a week but it’s finally done. They’re on my Facebook page, and since I’m probably not friends with some of you over there, I’ll list the public links for each album. Enjoy!

Berlin

Buchenwald Concentration Camp

Weimar

Wartburg Castle

Heidelberg

Neuschwanstein Castle

Munich

My Germany Trip

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:33:51 -0400

My Germany Trip:

Here’s the link to the blog I’m writing while in Germany. It’s in a separate location because it’s mainly for the families and friends of the kids on the trip. I’ll probably write a more personal summary of the trip when I get back or if I have some more down time over the next week. For now, this will have to do (for those of you who aren’t connected to me via Facebook).

There are three posts so far, so if you’re reading the blog for the first time, make sure to start at the bottom. Enjoy!

T minus 48 hours

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:05:08 -0400

In just about two days, I will be heading to Germany with a few co-workers and a handful of students. This will my third straight spring break in Europe and my fourth in a row spent outside the confines of my home city/county/state. I am not complaining about northern New Jersey (even if it sometimes pales in comparison to my true home, NYC) but it’s just that I was bitten by the travel bug a few years ago and now I am compelled to spend at least a week each year being in a place that feels foreign and new. It’s good for the mind, body, and soul.

There are several specific things I am excited about, and I want to mention a few of them here. First, the Stasi Museum in Berlin and anything else related to the events of the late 1980s in Germany. The fall of the Berlin Wall was a monumental part of my childhood. It’s strange to think that Germany was divided until the time I was about to enter high school. And when I saw The Lives of Others a few years ago, I became even more fascinated by the modern history of Germany before the wall fell. Seeing the meeting rooms and exhibits is going to be very sobering.

I’m also excited about seeing Weimar for a few reasons. It’s where the Bauhaus school was founded. But it’s also the location of the Buchenwald concentration camp, the largest one that existed in Germany.

Another stop that is sure to be interesting is Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. It was the inspiration for Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle, the king who commissioned it was known to be a bit of an eccentric (resulting in interesting design elements inside), and the surrounding countryside looks breathtaking. Can’t wait to see it.

I believe we will also be seeing Wartburg Castle, which is where Martin Luther hid for a year during the early 1500s after a little incident that he caused with the 95 Theses. He translated the New Testament into German during that time.

I’m sure there are many surprises in store for me as well. I am taking 26 GB’s worth of compact flash cards just in case, and borrowing a nice prime lens with a low f-stop for low light situations. I will also be updating our progress on a separate blog that I created for parents of the kids that are going on the trip. You can check out the blog from the trip to England and France two years ago to get an idea of what to expect from this year’s updates.

One of my students got an MRI done today. She brought a CD with...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:58:36 -0400

One of my students got an MRI done today. She brought a CD with images from the procedure for me to look at. So, the first thing we wanted to do with them was create an animated GIF. Enjoy!

I feel like quoting Richard Dreyfuss’ character from Close...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:23:08 -0500

I feel like quoting Richard Dreyfuss’ character from Close Encounters of the Third Kind here by saying “This means something. This is important.”

It certainly is. :)

Watching Memento

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:16:47 -0500

on a Saturday afternoon. Roommate’s cousin is here watching it for the first time. Life is good today.

I showed this video to my media production students today. I...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:36:56 -0500

I showed this video to my media production students today. I used it as the epitome of vile marketing. The narration is so bad that many viewers (in my class and on Youtube in general) thought it was a joke at first.

I love the Star Wars phenomenon, up until 1999. Yes, I have to admit that I had a great time watching The Phantom Menace when it was first released. I had grown up watching my Betamax tape of Return of the Jedi countless times. But over the years, I have grown to loathe George Lucas and his revisionist ways.

Today, the only way that I can enjoy a balanced diet of Star Wars is through the brilliant work done by Bioware. Star Wars: The Old Republic (the MMORPG) has allowed me to reclaim a dear friend that I had lost. It is the only way that I can relish the expansive and creative world that a young filmmaker had ~~fashioned~~ stolen from countless sources, including Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress.

Ok, enough ranting. Watch the video above and prepare to bleed from your eyes and ears. I’m off to Nar Shaddaa to continue living vicariously through my bounty hunter.

I didn’t get to see all of the movies that I wanted to in...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:09:12 -0500

I didn’t get to see all of the movies that I wanted to in 2011. But of the ones I saw, these were my favorites, from #10 to #1. I originally wanted to use video clips for this montage, but decided to find screenshots that could serve as teasers for the movies. I was amazed by the fact that most of these movies contained several scenes in which the characters would stare into the distance. I enjoy solitude to a great degree, and I guess I enjoy seeing characters who also seem enjoy it.

Even without DNS provisions, SOPA and PIPA remain fatally flawed

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:59:36 -0500

Even without DNS provisions, SOPA and PIPA remain fatally flawed:

The special interests behind the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act are in full retreat, throwing the bills’ most controversial provisions overboard in a desperate attempt to stop the entire bill from sinking. Realizing that proposals to create a DNS-based blacklisting scheme had become politically radioactive, the bills’ sponsors—Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), respectively—have pledged to drop these provisions. On Tuesday, even the Motion Picture Association of America declared that DNS filtering was “off the table” for this year’s legislation.

(Read the rest of the article here or by clicking on the title of this post. Ars Technica performs some of the most consistent, intelligent, and honest examinations of technology and science issues that I’ve seen. I had been looking for a solid summary of the real ramifications of these two bills and I feel like I’ve finally found it.)

The Strength to Choose Another Way

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:15:33 -0500

gamessavedmylife:

Joan discusses how Yuna’s bravery in FFX helped her confront her abusive husband and escape her marriage.

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