November 2003 Archives
I've been working my way through the new Extended Edition DVD of The Two Towers. The Extended Edition of The Fellowship of the Ring was so densely packed with interesting content that, even after a year, I still haven't managed to watch it all, and this release continues in the same vein. In other words, it's a film geek's fantasy come true.
In many ways, these extended DVDs are an even bigger fanboy treat than the cinema releases of the movies. Aside from the definitive longer cuts of the movies, which relegate the already excellent theatrical releases into distant memory, the DVDs contain many hours of interviews, behind-the-scenes documentaries, and commentaries. There's no fluff to be seen anywhere on these discs -- everything on them has been produced exclusively for the DVDs, and is of an amazingly high standard.
It's fascinating stuff that covers every aspect of the filmmaking process from script to cinema, but it's also oddly personal in its tone. I get the feeling that the movies have been so exhaustively documented not merely as an academic exercise, but as a means for the filmmakers to share their amazing personal experiences with the viewing public. The friendships forged and hardships involved in making the movies are all right there on the screen. Many people dream of spending time working on movies this significant. With the extras on these DVDs you can experience that, vicariously but vividly.
Every aspect of the presentation is first-rate. The packaging is a sturdy cardboard-but-faux-leather textured slipcase affair (assuming you aren't unlucky enough to get the embarrassingly cheaply-produced Region 2 versions, anyway) and even the menus are masterfully done, with musical clips from each individual scene played over the scene selection menus, and absolutely no irritating logos, trailers or copyright warnings of any kind when you insert the disc (something I'd desperately like to see done more often... they're so pointless).
If you liked the movies, or even if you didn't, get these DVDs. You'll thank me for it.
I can not imagine how a DVD release could be any better than this. These sets are absolute treasures, and I'm grateful to Peter Jackson, New Line, and everyone involved in the production for putting so much unprecedented effort into what is essentially a huge, unnecessary gift to the fans. If all that these box sets contained was the extended cut of the movies, they would still be worthwhile purchases. The sheer tonnage and quality of the extras included makes a geek like me feel like it's all my childhood Xmases condensed into one day.
I can't wait for the moment when there will sit three extended edition box sets, side by side. A dozen DVDs of distinction. Mine. My own. My precious.
Oops. Did I say that? Sorry. I think these damn things are corrupting me.
Oh... apparently, England won the Rugby World Cup. So, err... woo, or something, I think.
Everything is going pretty well here this week, with the exception of my actual academic work, the schedule of which continues to slide forward as I keep finding far more compelling things to do instead. But it's been a good week.
Since I'm now officially unemployed and penniless, I've been looking for work. But I've also been trying to figure out ways to earn some pocket money in the meantime, or in my spare time even when I find employment. Even I, with my worse-than-nonexistent business acumen, can tell that some of these wacky plans have zero chance of netting me even a penny, but some of them Just Might Work™. Obviously, I'll write more about this in the future.
Next week I intend to write one of those long, tutorial-style entries, entitled something like "Transparent PNGs and why Internet Explorer needn't stop you from using them". (Only a lot punchier, hopefully.) I was amazed at the results that can be achieved today using PNGs with a full alpha channel, and there are only a few hoops to jump through before you can get your page rendering acceptably in IE, and fantastically well in every other significant browser under the sun. If you're willing to accept that the dominant browser will give you reduced but controllable behaviour when it comes to transparent PNGs, you can do some incredible things. And it's not just for show -- this can simplify graphical overlays considerably, reducing complexity, file sizes, and headaches. Look for the tutorial sometime next week, if all goes to plan.
Oh, crud. This was a totally dull and pointless entry, wasn't it. I hate those. I'm going to post it now before I decide to delete it out of frustration.
Previously, on trioptimum.co.uk:
If I ever post about Farscape again, it will be with news of its renewal.
And now, on trioptimum.co.uk:
I've been looking forward to this for a long time.
Sources: Dark Horizons, IGN, Ain't It Cool News, TV Guide, savefarscape.com.
So, there's an interesting Reuters piece today, that I found via a mention of the same event in the Guardian. Apparently at Comdex, during Bill Gates's keynote, they played a video featuring Gates and Steve Ballmer in a ridiculous-sounding Matrix parody.
In the video, the two are dressed in hip Matrix garb, complete with trademark sunglasses and they even re-enact the movie's famous kung-fu fight scenes.
I'm not particularly interested in what Microsoft has to say to the Comdex crowd, but I do love to watch Ballmer leaping around like a complete arse. I went on the search for a clip. Microsoft has a streaming video of the entire keynote here; however, skip to about 16:00, where the parody is supposed to be, and there's several minutes of nothing -- just a message saying that broadcast has been suspended 'due to the proprietary nature of the content'.
It's hardly a big logical leap to speculate that Microsoft may have cut this out because they remember the last time Ballmer was an arse on camera. Whatever their reasons, though, it's a shame for the billions who weren't sitting in the Comdex keynote that Microsoft excised the one potentially interesting segment. Anybody know if it can be found elsewhere?
Update: nova on the Weyrmount found stills!
Update: Sorry... they disappeared.
Robert Downey Jr.
Winona Ryder
Hugh Grant
Michael Barrymore
Matthew Kelly
John Leslie
George W. Bush
Monstrosities? Just a minute.
Now, which one of these is the greater 'scar on the landscape'? It's not a trick question, I promise.
Once again the readers of Country Life magazine have entered the news by complaining rabidly about things most people don't mind. They have voted wind farms their #1 most hated eyesore.
These complainers might live in the countryside, but it's obvious that they don't give a damn about the environment. All they care about is their own environment, defined as what they can see from their patio. We invest money into developing cleaner sources of energy, and when the research pays off, these people quibble about the aesthetics? Never mind the fact that eight out of ten people in the UK are in favour of wind energy, or that most people think windfarms look unobjectionable, interesting, or even elegant.
I swear, if all that was needed to permanently eradicate war, disease and famine was the construction of a single structure, some people would still fight it if they would be able to see it from their kitchen window.
It's the same with everything... the people who feel the strongest always make the most noise, usually disproportionately so. Wind farms get a lot of negative coverage in the media because most of the people who are talking about wind farms are the tiny minority who strongly oppose them. I think we need to make an effort to redress the balance. So here goes...
I want a wind farm outside my house. I promise I won't complain -- in fact I'd support it completely. Wind based electrical generation is a good thing -- it's cheap, clean, and practical. I like wind farms!
What I write on this blog isn't going to make a bit of difference, of course. But shouting into the ether is surely no less Quixotic than tilting at windfarms.
There's a ton of information about windfarms and wind energy at the British Wind Energy Association website.
Just a few personal bits and pieces today. Hey, everybody does it.
After handing in my thesis a few weeks ago I've been carefully reacquainting myself with the forgotten art of slobbing. It's a hobby that can take a lifetime to master, with almost infinite variation -- sleeping late, watching Cowboy Bebop, playing on the Xbox, surfing weblogs, or constructing voodoo dolls of Andrew Orlowski out of balled up paper and elastic bands. After a run of months of back-breaking productivity, I'm well out of practice, but feelings of apathy and neglect have begun to ebb back into my consciousness once again, and my muscles have started to atrophy. Within a few months I hope to have rid myself of the last remaining traces of motivation and energy.
My second official NaNoWriMo attempt never even got off the ground. I know that technically the competition can still be attempted and even won, but there's little point in trying because I have stuff coming up in the latter half of the month that is sure to keep me occupied at the expense of all other endeavours. Call it thesis burnout, call it a scarcity of ideas, or call it laziness, but for whatever reason, this month really wasn't the right time to try to write a novel. You may now begin calling me vicious names.
Remember that secret project I mentioned a few months ago? The work proceeds apace once more (good word, 'apace'). It's still not ready to unveil, and I particularly don't want the search engines to start spidering it until it's a little more complete -- I don't want visitors to think it sucks when really it's simply not ready. But it should be an interesting project. It's going to require some investment of time on my part, possibly so much that I'll be looking for someone else who can help me run it. But more on that when the time comes. (I'm not trying to be cryptic, honest... it's just that I'm still trying to work out the vocabulary to describe the project. I know what it's going to be, in rough terms, but I'm still refining the concept.)
Lunchtime. Gotta go.
(P.S. I'm not really lapsed, I just liked the sound of the words 'lapsed blogger'.)
NaNoWriMo homepage:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/
Forums:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/forums.php
IRC chat:
#nanowrimo on irc.mircx.com (UK NaNo-ers)
#nano on irc.wyldryde.net (most active?)
#nanowrimo on irc.goodchatting.com (last year's chatroom)
Personal:
My Profile
New links will be added to this entry in the coming weeks.
It's NaNoWriMo time again! Good luck to the people I know who are participating this year... this is where I would put a hyperlinked list of names if I had the time, but you know who you are.
I decided a few weeks ago that this time round I would dispense with any forward planning, and do the whole thing -- from story conception to finishing touches -- in the month of November. This has advantages -- it's a lot more exciting and the result is likely to be much more spontaneous -- but it also means that today I'm completely dependent on a sudden flash of inspiration. Not the easiest thing to create at will.
Because I'm isolated from my word processor this weekend, though, I do have the opportunity to spend a couple of days doing nothing but planning.
Regular updates on the state of my novel will follow throughout the month.
Current Word Count: 0
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