January 15

[Zeke]

[Forum note: I'm going to start noting subsites in the thread descriptions, to make it easier to tell which update a thread is about.]


Today I did some more modding at the forums -- the thread linked in yesterday's newspost will fill you in if you're interested. I know not everybody who comes here is a forumgoer, so I'm done with mod updates for now. However, I'm not done with those three presents for the community... speaking of which, it makes sense to give three gifts around Epiphany rather than Christmas anyway, doesn't it?


Meanwhile, we've got another 5M.net birthday to celebrate. Today it's Gatac's turn. Now Gatac is fond of many things, but perhaps none more than the movie Equilibrium. So happy birthday, Gatac -- have a The Top 10 Ways Grammaton Clerics Kill Time (../top10/83.html).

[Gatac]

:lol:

Thanks. I really appreciate that.

Gatac

[PointyHairedJedi]

Covering up that pesky 0.1% of the population that turn into Reavers

Heh, a good one, Zeke.

[SCMoll]

Dodging Ray Bradbury's lawyers... and George Orwell's... and the Wachowski Brothers'....
But not Aldous Huxley's? :wink:

[SCMoll]

Dodging Ray Bradbury's lawyers... and George Orwell's... and the Wachowski Brothers'....
But not Aldous Huxley's? :wink:

[e of pi]

Statement to the effect that it is hard to type while rolling around on the floor and that the #1 was pure genius.

[Gatac]

If you want to list every source Equilibrium borrows from, you'd be here all week.

Gatac

[Zeke]

I've never actually read Brave New World. (It's on my list of Important Things to Read Sometime, like Romeo and Juliet.) I have read Fahrenheit 451, and while I enjoyed Equilibrium, I think the similarities were so overwhelming that they might as well just have called it a new film adaptation of Bradbury's book. After all, how many movies have there been that kept the original title and changed far more than this? (The latest War of the Worlds is a good example -- of both this phenomenon and the fact that the resulting movie can still be great.)

Gatac disagrees, though, and I respect that. I'm often in his position, defending things like Voyager episodes even when they appear -- or heck, just are -- derivative.

By the way, pursuant to the remark at the top of this thread, I've added descriptions to all the news threads on the first page. Should make this forum easier to navigate.

[evay]

I've never actually read Brave New World. (It's on my list of Important Things to Read Sometime, like Romeo and Juliet.)
Still holds up as a good read, I think. Unlike the Foundation trilogy -- I read it, and while I love Asimov, I was rather disappointed by those. R&J you should probably see as the Zeferelli movie version first, so you get the drama of the thing, and then read the text for the marvel of the wordplay -- for example, that the first 14 lines they speak to each other create a sonnet.

Are there any film majors or even classic film buffs here of whom I can ask a related question? Why is Citizen Kane supposed to be on everyone's list of Important Movies to See Sometime? I thought it was confusing and boring, and critics have been raving about it for decades.

[PointyHairedJedi]

^ As I understand it, it isn't so much to do with what the film is about, but how it was made. A lot of film-making techinques that were used, though standard today, were very much groundbreaking in 1941.

[mudshark]

I found it hard to stay with Citizen Kane as well. The problem is that all sorts of innovations in filmmaking (camera techniques, etc.) were introduced by Orson Welles in that picture, but they have long since become so much a part of the common vocabulary that you and I don't really notice them when watching Kane. It was revolutionary at the time, but you'd have to study up to know all the reasons why, and I confess I haven't done that.

This is how my brother explained it to me, and he's a fair bit more knowledgeable than I on the subject of film and filmmaking history.

[PointyHairedJedi]

Too slow old man! :P

[whoiam]

<ramble>Of course, the Star Wars films and the Back to the Future trilogy were both pioneers of new techniques... BTTF I believe made vast strides in split-screen technology - anyone else remember the times in BTTF 2 where Michael J Fox was playing basically his entire future family? Of course, that isn't what the trilogy is remembered for, any more then the original Star Wars trilogy is remembered for it's use of Special Effects. I guess the big difference is that my examples were decent films even without the 'WOW' factor, which is why people today have generally watched them...</ramble>

[evay]

I guess the big difference is that my examples were decent films even without the 'WOW' factor, which is why people today have generally watched them..
Yes, I agree. And I've heard about the "CK used groundbreaking techniques" thing before, I guess I was just hoping that there was something more to the film than that.

[Derek]

Actually, I kind of liked CK, especially after I realized he was Superman. But Citizen Kane wasn't bad either.

[Sa'ar Chasm]

Actually, I kind of liked CK, especially after I realized he was Superman.

Wait...Calvin Klein is Superman?

[Zeke]

You guys have some strange nicknames for Captain Kirk.

[PointyHairedJedi]

Yes, I agree. And I've heard about the "CK used groundbreaking techniques" thing before, I guess I was just hoping that there was something more to the film than that.
Well, it's also a very interesting take on the vast power that the media can wield, and also on a more basic level it carries the message that money can't buy you happiness. I rather think the main problemt with it is that it's so well known, and people go into watching it expecting something vastly different than what it actually is.

[Celeste]

You guys have some strange nicknames for Captain Kirk.

CK Jeans? What?

[Chancellor Valium]

*reads No. 1.

Facepalm. That sets new records of abysmalness. Congratulations :D

[e of pi]

Very good.

[SCMoll]

I've never actually read Brave New World. (It's on my list of Important Things to Read Sometime, like Romeo and Juliet.) I have read Fahrenheit 451, and while I enjoyed Equilibrium, I think the similarities were so overwhelming that they might as well just have called it a new film adaptation of Bradbury's book. After all, how many movies have there been that kept the original title and changed far more than this?
Honestly, I felt it owed just as much to 1984 as it did to Fahrenheit. Were people really supposed to be surprised at the Big Brotheresque reveal?

The movie did yield us something great, though. When I heard Christian Bale was going to be Batman, I knew it was the right choice. He was what kept the movie together for me.

I thought Citizen Kane was pretty good; I enjoyed the unravelling of the story of one man's life, his rise and fall. It was well done. (Welles's Macbeth on the other hand.... ugh.)

[SCMoll]

I've never actually read Brave New World. (It's on my list of Important Things to Read Sometime, like Romeo and Juliet.) I have read Fahrenheit 451, and while I enjoyed Equilibrium, I think the similarities were so overwhelming that they might as well just have called it a new film adaptation of Bradbury's book. After all, how many movies have there been that kept the original title and changed far more than this?
Honestly, I felt it owed just as much to 1984 as it did to Fahrenheit. Were people really supposed to be surprised at the Big Brotheresque reveal?

The movie did yield us something great, though. When I heard Christian Bale was going to be Batman, I knew it was the right choice. He was what kept the movie together for me.

I thought Citizen Kane was pretty good; I enjoyed the unravelling of the story of one man's life, his rise and fall. It was well done. (Welles's Macbeth on the other hand.... ugh.)

[Zeke]

January 17


Just a micro-update today. Derek did in fact have a picture of those embroidered 5MV ornaments, so you can now see them for yourself (../zeke/5mvornaments.jpg).


Tomorrow? Macro-update.

[e of pi]

Coool. Can I buy one? Or something?

[Chancellor Valium]

It must be said that those are quite amazingly very, very, good. Nice work, Mme. Dean! :D

[Andy Taylor]

They are sooooooooo cute!

Great job!

[danieldoof]

awww I want it....my preciousssssssssss

no really they are very cool

can I have some?

[e of pi]

I've got dibs.

[PointyHairedJedi]

Then you should go and see your doctor. They get infectious if you leave it too long.

[e of pi]

Heh.

[MmeBlueberry]

Thanks! :D It was fun to make them. As far as buying them...not at the moment, as other projects (a few of them gifts) are screaming at me more loudly to be done. If I decide I feel like stitching those again, I'll talk rights with Zeke. Derivative work, and all that.

[danieldoof]

gifts huh?

what do we have to do to deserve one?

tell me and I will do :D

[MmeBlueberry]

Hmm...currently, all the gifts I'm working on are for relatives or pregnant friends. ;)

[danieldoof]

pregnant friends. ;)

damn then I dont have a chance.....but hey there can always happen "junior" :twisted:

[PointyHairedJedi]

damn then I dont have a chance.....
Well not with that attitude, no. :roll:

[Zeke]

January 18


The macro-update will have to wait another day, because today I suddenly found the courage to do something else, and I couldn't let the opportunity pass.


That's right: I watched The Ring 2. The unrated version. All the way through. Without chickening out.


I AM THE MAN!


Look, if you were as terrified of Samara as I am, you'd be proud too. Anyway, this means you can expect the overdue Ring 2 fiver shortly; I had a lot of it planned already, but didn't want to actually write it without having seen the movie. (For one thing, none of my sources covered the unrated version's extra scenes.) As for the macro-update -- which, not to be too coy, I'll tell you is community present number 2 -- tomorrow should still be a go.


By the way, great hitcounts lately. Let's keep 'em rising!

[Scooter]

I watched The Ring 2
You mean the sequel to that great collection of Wisk commercials? Awesome.

[PointyHairedJedi]

Get around to watching the Japanese originals, Zeke, and then I'll really be impressed. :D

[Kristina]

A belated nod to Mme Blueberry: I know full well how they were crafted, which is why I'm very, very impressed - both at the diligence and color shades. Great stitching work!

<major silliness>(I've pondered this for some time: is an embroiderer someone who threatens enemies at needlepoint?)</major silliness>

[e of pi]

My mom's done samplers. Well, alright: singular. My sis and I kinda threw her out of the groove.

[Celeste]

I did one once, when I was like 6. It was a duck. :D Still have it.. somewhere..

[MmeBlueberry]

Thanks, Kristina! :) I used a software program called Pattern Maker (http://hobbyware.com/pm.htm) to change the images into cross-stitch patterns...and there are a LOT of colors in those little things, about 40 in each of the ones with a ship. Only three in the plain logo. ;) Each ornament took 17-19 hours of stitching time.

[Chancellor Valium]

Thanks, Kristina! :) I used a software program called Pattern Maker (http://hobbyware.com/pm.htm) to change the images into cross-stitch patterns...and there are a LOT of colors in those little things, about 40 in each of the ones with a ship. Only three in the plain logo. ;) Each ornament took 17-19 hours of stitching time.

:shock: That's a lot of stitching!

[e of pi]

Agreed!

[ijdgaf]

Holy whoa, that *is* a lot of work. Makes me appreciate mine all the more.

And I can certainly vouch for how impressive they look. Even if I have absolutely no clue about the technique involved.

[e of pi]

They do look goood.

[Derek]

While I'm sure she's pleased with how impressed all of you are, 17-19 hours is not a lot of time for Blueberry and her craft projects. Most projects take her far longer than that.

Check out the times on her works in progress: http://mmeblue.home.comcast.net/wips.html

[e of pi]

That kinda scares me. :shock:

[Chancellor Valium]

Wow.

[e of pi]

I second the motion.