It is always hard to describe why flickr is cool to people. It's not just a place where people threw up a bunch of pictures. Describing geotagging, searches by interestingness, and an open API, doesn't work to explain because they are better seen than heard.
But here is an application that is a good example of what is possible.
http://www.constantsetting.com/
It shows recently posted sunset photos from wherever in the world the sun is setting right now.
To do this it,
Knows where the sun is setting right now
accesses the Flickr API
looks only at photos that are geotagged (the owner said "this was taken here")
of those looks for ones that also have the tag "sunset"
finds one geotagged in the band of the earth where the sun is setting right now
and pops it on your screen.
Simply because the sun is always setting.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Further proof that Winnemucca is cool
Great Basin Arts and Entertainment lead by Bill Sims is bringing the band in the below video "Guitar-Sitar Jugalbandi" on Friday. If I was in Reno I would be flying to Winn that night. There is a Sitar player, a tabla player, and a guy on a scalloped guitar. WTF! I had never even heard of a scalloped guitar! What Port is Winnemucca bringing all this culture from anyway?! Must be Port Sims.
It's probably a good thing I'm not going. It would just be awkward when I ask them to sign my chest.
It's probably a good thing I'm not going. It would just be awkward when I ask them to sign my chest.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Deductive
Deductive reasoning might be interesting in a site. With inductive you are always looking for the right answer. With deductive, you are just eliminating what is not right. And seeing from what is still available, what is likely. So often you are not going to know the right answer. But you can look at what is not right. When I was in college, I was looking out the window one day watching a shadow walk down the sidewalk. I thought "is that Danielle? No that doesn't seem right. Jolen? No not her. Mary? that girl I have a crush on from the 3rd floor? Ester? Yes, I think Ester."
The shadows were streched and distorted so it was not the shape so much (although there was a little of that) as the movement. I wasn't looking for it but somewhere in my mind the motion of people's walks was stored and the familiarity of the shadow movement caused my brain to recognize it.
I looked out my dorm window a lot in college and I got used to recognizing shadows before the person came around the juniper bush. Sometimes my brain would jump to a conclusion and was wrong. With practice I could tell when I wasn't sure but was just looking to hard for an answer, giving me a false conclusion.
What you see in a shadow is interesting too. male/female speed, amount of energy, confidence, attitude. These are not things you usually pay attention to in someones movement (although I think you see it unconsciencely ) because their actual appearance is more natural to pay attention to. But when you know someone you know their attitude and demeanor and in the movement you see what matches what you know about them.
That is important, I was terrible at guessing the identities of people I had seen around but had not talked to.
If I were to play by play my mind i would say I used the more obvious big buckets first to whittle down the list.
male/female - you know what this means
Speed/energy - easy buckets, some people are in a hurry or are usually excited, and some people are taking it easy.
Confidence - not a yes or no but on a rough scale you can roughly place your possibilities.
Attitude - After narrowing it down a little this is the real test. This is where just letting your mind flow free and ask "What is that shadow telling me?" It is not a scale of attitudes or a list of types of attitudes you are looking for. Is it happy, sad, goofy, weird, bogged down, cold? That is trying to apply random concepts to it. Instead, all the things that you might wonder about the movement of someones shadow you just let bounce off the images of the people you know. They look like they are hurrying to get out of the cold today. This looks familiar but slower, I wonder if they are tired? Looks carefree. This person is lurching, i wonder if they have a big backpack.
The more things you can see the better. There might be a handful of males that are downtrodden but not as many are downtrodden, usually travels with others, and swings their arms with an odd momentum.
This is interesting to me because it is an example of understanding something about the world, not a truth, and not through not exact proof, but with the evidence you have. And importantly by testing your assumptions. My guess was tested every single time when that person came into view. Without that your disciplined guessing is worthless. This is interesting to me because I wonder if something like this might be worth more than the bullshit in the news that I am coming to trust less and less. Despite journalistic integrity. I am beginning to think people are getting too good at understanding the rules that journalists need to play by and using that against them. I'm not saying I have an alternative. But I am looking for one.
That really was a fun dorm room. I took the screen off the window so I could look out and talk to people walking by. Sometimes saying hi before they saw me.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
George Carlin
I really loved George Carlin. I think that he was as much philosopher as he was comedian. His comedy was exhausting for me to watch sometimes because it was almost preachy and was too much to take at once. I felt like he was saying OPEN YOUR EYES! (laugh) OPEN YOUR EYES! (laugh) But he knew what people would listen to and come see. And he was so funny he effect was, "I'm laughing at this but is he talking about me? Should I take a moment and think about how that affects me and those I love? Shit he is throwing more thought-comedy at me! HAHAHA (contemplate) HAHAHA (contemplate)."
At my first job in my Dad's office when I was 12, I worked with a lady from New York City named Jan. George Carlin always reminded me of Jan. They were both cantankerous, had a sharp tongue, and had no patience for bullshit. It is their particular flavor of distaste for bullshit that really connected the two for me. From the stories both told I can see NYC making them who they were.
Anyway, next time you see a clip or show of George on stage, look close at his face and listen to his voice. He is up there yelling because he is actually concerned! He is making jokes because he knows that is the only way you will listen to what he has to say! He is hoping you will take a moment after you are done laughing to think and be concerned too! I didn't know you George, but I'll end this by promising to think about what you say, and thanks for making me laugh.
At my first job in my Dad's office when I was 12, I worked with a lady from New York City named Jan. George Carlin always reminded me of Jan. They were both cantankerous, had a sharp tongue, and had no patience for bullshit. It is their particular flavor of distaste for bullshit that really connected the two for me. From the stories both told I can see NYC making them who they were.
Anyway, next time you see a clip or show of George on stage, look close at his face and listen to his voice. He is up there yelling because he is actually concerned! He is making jokes because he knows that is the only way you will listen to what he has to say! He is hoping you will take a moment after you are done laughing to think and be concerned too! I didn't know you George, but I'll end this by promising to think about what you say, and thanks for making me laugh.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Art on the dunes
I found this great video tonight made by Minneapolis Art on Wheels. Apparently they stopped in Winnemucca and went out to the dunes. Check out their vid, it is definitely worth the full screen view.
If you like their work you can check out their original post here and give them a shout. Also, here is their post with the pics.
If you like their work you can check out their original post here and give them a shout. Also, here is their post with the pics.
Friday, June 13, 2008
myspace es muy feo
Just because every user page on myspace is ugly doesn't mean that they should make the homepage blow out all the green cones in my eyeballs.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
6
Right before I left for Nevada last weekend I was tagged by daddyninja to try and summarize my life in 6 words so I thought about this a bit on the road.
"Help people. Be useful. Improve."
Help and people have been the main focus of my life for a long time. When I was young I was very shy. I worked hard to not be shy. When I was about 16 I wrote goals of what I want to be. Things I didn't see in myself that I wanted to. They gave me direction for a long time. In following those goals I found out that I don't just want to have friends but I want to matter to someone. To be useful is more satisfying than anything else to me.
I have a box of notebooks including a folder with these goals that I keep wherever I move even though I almost never look at it anymore (I think i have accomplished these goals to my satisfaction and it's time to define new ones). If my house was on fire, this is the one thing that I would save.
One sec,
[rustles through some paper]
Here it is.
In that red notebook there is a yellow pad of paper entitled "P.O.M.L." (Point of my life)
I have never shown anyone this and it's a little embarrassing, so here we go,
(33 y.o. me note: The above is written by someone with very few friends trying to find his place in a social setting. I never could find a good truth that was better than another so I didn't want to decide. I wanted to understand and be able to talk to whoever. This is reflected even in the people i hang out with today. I didn't want to close any doors.
(33 y.o. me note: A little over the top yes, but I was 16. You can see that this is basically a reinforcer for #1. Not concentrate in general. Concentrate when you are with people. It is like saying "really listen" but I think listening does not encompass enough. When you can agree with someone you are doing more than listening. I was shy, in any room filled with people I felt isolated. However, I am also fairly non-threatening, so when I was willing to listen, care, pay attention, and [enter additional undefinable quality here], I can understand enough to be there and I could understand and would be allowed to be part of a situation. And there was nothing more amazing to me than being in some new situation.)
(no more description here. But none needed I think. You have to try, you have to really want it or it doesn't matter. If you don't want it, reconsider).
I have not written another POML since then. That one was very general. I was trying to find my direction. Then the Point was the search. Then I believed people have a "base" that guides them, lets them know what to do, keeps them sane. I thought I would eventually find this in my social and mental wandering. But for me I think the process of looking, the underlying patterns you see in people and the world, even if you cant define them, the process of navigating that became my base. I think the flexibility in that process keeps me more stable than a set set of values would. If you know me and ever wonder why I rarely get worked up, mad, or freaked out, that is why. Because there is always another option to look at.
But I am finally getting to the point where I have very strong opinions of my own and becoming a bit of a moral dillema. I have spent my life trying to understand other people's opinions and that has borne some of my own. Who is right? Maybe thats not what it's about. Gotta figure that out.
Anyway, lets get to the "help" part and wrap this up. Its getting long for a blog post.
Nothing makes me more happy than helping people. I had a customer care phone service job. And when they promoted me and took me away from the customers, I quit (in the same meeting where they promoted me, "Thanks, but I wrote this letter.") I think people are inherently selfish. But I also think that other people are what makes life worth living. Maybe not always "helping" in the traditional sense. But everyone wants to affect the lives of others, to make a difference. So I want to be useful. To help people in whatever capacity I can, as much as I can. That would be a life not wasted to me.
Oh yea, and I don't like strict rules (i.e. my grammar/syntax) so I'm sorry bookbabie & Hemingway, my meme is 5.
"Help people. Be useful. Improve."
Help and people have been the main focus of my life for a long time. When I was young I was very shy. I worked hard to not be shy. When I was about 16 I wrote goals of what I want to be. Things I didn't see in myself that I wanted to. They gave me direction for a long time. In following those goals I found out that I don't just want to have friends but I want to matter to someone. To be useful is more satisfying than anything else to me.
I have a box of notebooks including a folder with these goals that I keep wherever I move even though I almost never look at it anymore (I think i have accomplished these goals to my satisfaction and it's time to define new ones). If my house was on fire, this is the one thing that I would save.
One sec,
[rustles through some paper]
Here it is.
In that red notebook there is a yellow pad of paper entitled "P.O.M.L." (Point of my life)
I have never shown anyone this and it's a little embarrassing, so here we go,
1. Freedom of Mind: An absence of values will give the ability to be with different people because I will have no values which they can offend. And this also allows me to fully relate to their thoughts and still agree with opposite views because of the "why" of base values.
|Additional note: Base here is defined as what is needed for truth, listener, relator, diff grooves, and fun w/ these people/situations. To fully do these as far as I want to, everything else is possible because of this.|
(33 y.o. me note: The above is written by someone with very few friends trying to find his place in a social setting. I never could find a good truth that was better than another so I didn't want to decide. I wanted to understand and be able to talk to whoever. This is reflected even in the people i hang out with today. I didn't want to close any doors.
2. Concentration: Allows quick and correct development of skills necessary to better fulfill POML. Also helps to better relate to a person by allowing me to delve deeper into their thoughts and feelings (the "whys") that may otherwise only be understood by someone who was there in a situation or a more perfect personality match.
(33 y.o. me note: A little over the top yes, but I was 16. You can see that this is basically a reinforcer for #1. Not concentrate in general. Concentrate when you are with people. It is like saying "really listen" but I think listening does not encompass enough. When you can agree with someone you are doing more than listening. I was shy, in any room filled with people I felt isolated. However, I am also fairly non-threatening, so when I was willing to listen, care, pay attention, and [enter additional undefinable quality here], I can understand enough to be there and I could understand and would be allowed to be part of a situation. And there was nothing more amazing to me than being in some new situation.)
3. Desire
(no more description here. But none needed I think. You have to try, you have to really want it or it doesn't matter. If you don't want it, reconsider).
I have not written another POML since then. That one was very general. I was trying to find my direction. Then the Point was the search. Then I believed people have a "base" that guides them, lets them know what to do, keeps them sane. I thought I would eventually find this in my social and mental wandering. But for me I think the process of looking, the underlying patterns you see in people and the world, even if you cant define them, the process of navigating that became my base. I think the flexibility in that process keeps me more stable than a set set of values would. If you know me and ever wonder why I rarely get worked up, mad, or freaked out, that is why. Because there is always another option to look at.
But I am finally getting to the point where I have very strong opinions of my own and becoming a bit of a moral dillema. I have spent my life trying to understand other people's opinions and that has borne some of my own. Who is right? Maybe thats not what it's about. Gotta figure that out.
Anyway, lets get to the "help" part and wrap this up. Its getting long for a blog post.
Nothing makes me more happy than helping people. I had a customer care phone service job. And when they promoted me and took me away from the customers, I quit (in the same meeting where they promoted me, "Thanks, but I wrote this letter.") I think people are inherently selfish. But I also think that other people are what makes life worth living. Maybe not always "helping" in the traditional sense. But everyone wants to affect the lives of others, to make a difference. So I want to be useful. To help people in whatever capacity I can, as much as I can. That would be a life not wasted to me.
Oh yea, and I don't like strict rules (i.e. my grammar/syntax) so I'm sorry bookbabie & Hemingway, my meme is 5.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Weekend of 6/7-8/08
People wonder why I go back to Nevada so much. The reason is I always have so much fun! On the way back I think about all the stuff I did so today I wrote (most) of it down. I left a little out on purpose, and probably left a little out just because I forgot. It was actually a pretty tame weekend, but there was still lots of friends and family, great times, bad decisions and fun.
(if you want to skip ahead to the fun stuff, look for "Tape the video camera to the rear view mirror..." late Saturday.)
SATURDAY:
- Wake up, rush out to Basque festival parade to take some pictures. I haven't been to one of these in years. I found Clay and his family so i hang out with them.
- Back home. Mom make's my favorite cream of wheat. The trip is already worth it.
- See family and dog, hang out at Basque festival, and see old friends at that throughout the day.
- Dinner with Mom, Dad, Grandpa Buckie and Elaine at (Basque restaurant in Winnemucca). A couple picons before dinner, lots of great conversation and catching up.
- Unlocked a few levels and Mom's Mii on Mario Kart so she can play as herself. Character name, "mom"
- Graduation house party in a house my Grandpa built with an interesting crowd that I haven't hung out with much.
- Dinner at Model T with America and her step-daughter. Nice to get to know her finally.
- Winnemucca seems mostly dead again. I go to the basque festival dance and see some faces i haven't in a while including my favorite High School teacher Mrs. Kennedy. Her son just graduated and she is having a GREAT night. I always love seeing Mrs. Kennedy :)
- Over to the Sage. Not much going on again but I have a drink and talk to the bartender for a while.
- Next to the Mineshaft. Ask people if the town is so dead because of the shootings a few weeks ago and they think so too. I have one drink and skip out the back avoiding goodbyes.
- Go home for a minute, take the A/C unit out of the back, pick up my flip camera.
- Drive away from the town and look at the stars from the back of the pickup. It is a perfect night. If you have never seen this I can't really explain what it looks like, and my camera can't picture it. No clouds and no moon. I can see the milky way.
- Tape the video camera to the rear view mirror and go boonie crashing (aka off roading) on my fav road behind the high school while listening to "Coward of the County" by Kenny Rogers. (note to self: when video taping a bonnie crash, better to not use high beams. When you bounce that much it just shoots the light too far and up too high).
- The video is not as exciting as you would hope.
SUNDAY:
- Breakfast with mom and dad, homemade by Mom :)
- The next morning I am talking in the front yard and Dad comes out and says, "I just got a call from Bud Vetter. He says that one of our tailgate's is behind the high school. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" Apparently I boonie crashed so hard I bounced the tail gate off. So I hop in the truck to go get it. It still smells like all the sage brush I ran over last night.
- Pick up the tail gate (only one strap broken, not that bad) and wash the pickup.
- Lunch with Dan and Ferd. Sandwiches in the park. Dan's conversation is odd and inspiring (in the oddest way) as always. Ferd lives in the moment like no one I have ever met. He is my oldest friend, and a gift. We get sandwiches and eat by the river in a park.
- Hang out with brother and his family for a few.
- chased a small dust devil that was throwing tumbleweeds in the air.
- Drive back to California.
(if you want to skip ahead to the fun stuff, look for "Tape the video camera to the rear view mirror..." late Saturday.)
SATURDAY:
- Wake up, rush out to Basque festival parade to take some pictures. I haven't been to one of these in years. I found Clay and his family so i hang out with them.
- Back home. Mom make's my favorite cream of wheat. The trip is already worth it.
- See family and dog, hang out at Basque festival, and see old friends at that throughout the day.
- Dinner with Mom, Dad, Grandpa Buckie and Elaine at (Basque restaurant in Winnemucca). A couple picons before dinner, lots of great conversation and catching up.
- Unlocked a few levels and Mom's Mii on Mario Kart so she can play as herself. Character name, "mom"
- Graduation house party in a house my Grandpa built with an interesting crowd that I haven't hung out with much.
- Dinner at Model T with America and her step-daughter. Nice to get to know her finally.
- Winnemucca seems mostly dead again. I go to the basque festival dance and see some faces i haven't in a while including my favorite High School teacher Mrs. Kennedy. Her son just graduated and she is having a GREAT night. I always love seeing Mrs. Kennedy :)
- Over to the Sage. Not much going on again but I have a drink and talk to the bartender for a while.
- Next to the Mineshaft. Ask people if the town is so dead because of the shootings a few weeks ago and they think so too. I have one drink and skip out the back avoiding goodbyes.
- Go home for a minute, take the A/C unit out of the back, pick up my flip camera.
- Drive away from the town and look at the stars from the back of the pickup. It is a perfect night. If you have never seen this I can't really explain what it looks like, and my camera can't picture it. No clouds and no moon. I can see the milky way.
- Tape the video camera to the rear view mirror and go boonie crashing (aka off roading) on my fav road behind the high school while listening to "Coward of the County" by Kenny Rogers. (note to self: when video taping a bonnie crash, better to not use high beams. When you bounce that much it just shoots the light too far and up too high).
- The video is not as exciting as you would hope.
SUNDAY:
- Breakfast with mom and dad, homemade by Mom :)
- The next morning I am talking in the front yard and Dad comes out and says, "I just got a call from Bud Vetter. He says that one of our tailgate's is behind the high school. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" Apparently I boonie crashed so hard I bounced the tail gate off. So I hop in the truck to go get it. It still smells like all the sage brush I ran over last night.
- Pick up the tail gate (only one strap broken, not that bad) and wash the pickup.
- Lunch with Dan and Ferd. Sandwiches in the park. Dan's conversation is odd and inspiring (in the oddest way) as always. Ferd lives in the moment like no one I have ever met. He is my oldest friend, and a gift. We get sandwiches and eat by the river in a park.
- Hang out with brother and his family for a few.
- chased a small dust devil that was throwing tumbleweeds in the air.
- Drive back to California.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
An open letter to George Lucas,
WARNING: If you haven’t seen “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” stop reading right now.
I just got back from your latest return to my youth Indiana Jones and the New B-Movieish Title from the 1950s. It is difficult to write this since I may not remember all the things I wanted to tell you while the movie was going. Also, The Daily Show is on and I have already got more enjoyment from the first 10 minutes of that (which they do nightly) than I did from the entirety of your new movie.
How to best approach this. Let's do it in segments.
Story
Please stop trying to write a story. You had something once. I don't know if it is because you were young and creative or it was because you didn't have the limitless power of CGI at your disposal to do what your heart truly desired, but you don't have it anymore. Your current situation is not working for you. This movie had some left over charm from the earlier movies. The mystery, the sets were reminiscent, and there was adventure. But adventure didnt grab me and make me believe like it did before. Every time i thought the characters might have a moment something exploded, or there was a comic relief moment, or something really cool happened like Shia driving a motorcycle down a train platform and everyone just treats it like normal becuase he looks so cool doing it with a sideways cap? Oh sorry, they probably didnt see him come out of the fucking solid cloud of smoke that he emerged from right next to the train car.
I dont know if you know this George, but just because you put a retro title on a movie, and use lots of special effects does not mean that we will believe what ever the fuck you put on screen. Which brings us of course, to believability. WARNING: Spoilers ahead.
Before I went to this, when I asked people what they thought of it that saw it before me they usually said "Eee it was an Indiana Jones movie." (p.s. Mr. Lucas no one really likes your movies anymore. We go to them because we loved the first ones and we have decided that finding out a little more of the story is worth you sucking the life out of these things that you have given to our generation. Thanks.) This was not an Indiana Jones movie. In Indy movies, you wonder if some of this might really be possible. Is that really hidden somewhere in the world? If I step out of my life could find this if I have the wherewithal and smarts like Dr. Jones to chase it?
An Indy movie shouldn't make me think "WHOA no way!. Amazing! Wait, really. No way." So within the first 30 minuts of the movie you want me to believe Indy can now use his whip to retrieve a gun and place it in the hand of a comrade ready to shoot, run on 3 inch wooden beams that are 4 feet apart 20 feet in the air, cross the desert on foot as fast as a motorcade, survive a ground zero nuclear explosion in a refrigerator (thanks for the close-up of the label telling me it is lined with lead so i wasn't drawn out of the movie thinking "Wha?" while it was hurled 30 fucking miles at who knows how many MPH, clear of the deadly radiation. Did Frigidaire have Inertial Dampening Systems in '54? Star Trek didn't get them until the 22nd century. The 50's were amazing!). Oh and while we are on the 50's stop brining us back to American Graffiti with blatant 1950s "at the Hop" scenes. You place me in a 50's diner with 20 guys in college jackets vs 20 tough looking guys (with pompadores) in leather jackets and put in a fun 50's tune to keep me into it!? Jesus man you totally pulled me out of the movie AGAIN thinking Where the fuck did that come from!? And while we are at it, your choice of music sucks. Choose a song that we havent heard 1000 times in every 50s movie. I have heard the oldies station, i know there are more songs than the ones on the Time/Life collection. I could go on with the "No way!" moments, but i would give you the whole movie. (the vine swing scene? FUCK!)
I don't remember if your plots were predictable when I saw the only ones, I was 10. But now, wait the kid is her son!? Wait, and he is YOUR son!? Wow, I did not see that coming and it really brings the whole thing together now. It is like, you are all family, this is the continuance I was looking for! And the scene where she told Indy the kid was his son? Was that really necessary? Do you remember back when you didnt have all the money in the world? Before you marketed the shit out of every franchise you own (more on that later) and you had to make choices? When most writers or directors write/film a story they have to think "Does this forward the plot?" There was NO REASON for them to make a half hearted escape attempt, have a moment in the sand trap (which at least wasnt CGI) to tell Indy the kids true identity, and get caught again. She could have told him in the tent in a subtle little scene and it would have meant so much more. Yes its possible that Speilberg would have overlit it from the back like he has done since A.I. Or that Harrison would have fucked it up since he lost his acting ability after Regarding Henry (if you want to see Harrison at his best, go rent The Frisco Kid) but at least you would have tried. Fucking choices man.
While we are talking about choices, lets talk about leaving some things to the imagination. At the end of Raiders, when we dont ever see what is in the Ark we just know that "It's Beautifuuaal", Jesus, everyone remembers that because we never saw it. At the end of this you showed us eeeverything! Don't show me your bloomers, thats not going to keep me coming back.
Special Effects.
Oh Mr. Lucas, this has been coming for a long time. Just because you can do something with computers, doesn't mean that you should. Do you remember when you did the first 3 Star Wars? People loved Yoda and Chewie. There is something about the physicality of masks and fake eyes, when done right, that people can really connect with. If someone is CG, even really good CG, your mind knows and if you arent thinking "Wow that is amazingly realistic", you still wont connect with the character I don't think. People loved Yoda and Chewie, and people remember Jaba. I didnt give a shit about the Wookies in the new Star Wars'. And although Yoda's fight scene was cool, if that was the original Yoda I wouldn't have really connected with him either. There is something about the physicality of looking into someones eyes, even when they are glass, that makes a difference. CGIChewie was not a big fuzzball. He was just a big pixelball and we all know it even though it is technically amazing to render hair with the complexity that we can now do. Good for you.
When I see that ILM is attached to a project these days, I am disappointed. I actually expect less of the movie after I see that because I know that you and all the people that work in the culture that you have created will just be blowing your virtual load all over the screen. Did you see the Fountain? The story could have been better, but the visuals were AMAZING and no CGI. If ILM had done it, there would be no meat to the scenes for me to hold on to, to hang emotions on to.
And this is where it is obvious that you let your imagination make no choices at all. I know that you can make your dreams come true because you can have someone at a computer do anything that you imagine. But a better story comes out of choices, out of limits, like exist in any medium. Except those don't exist for you, because you leased the Presido and you can do whatever you want.
Licensing
Which brings me to my last point, licensing. I know that you invented modern movie licensing and product tie-ins. But you have gone too far. I have now worked at 2 companies that you license to make products and licensing tie ins for. I know that most anything that your company touches turns to gold. The Star Wars slot machines are some of the biggest money makers for IGT. And even in that weird offshoot of your trademarked vault, they find new ways to slightly tweek the brand they are licensing, make a slightly different product, your guys say OK, and you make more money. You lay down some guidlines, they follow them, and everyone comes out richer. I see how shamelessly your intellectual copyrighted materials are. People love the novelty of them. They love that something that is special in their hearts is packaged in this weird way and want to experience that too. In a slot machine, on a Cheese-It box, in a slightly different slot machine with progressive wins!, on shirts, at Disneyland, etc. But these things work because they are special to people. You are taking advantage of the smile that comes on people's faces when they see something they love that you own. I have seen how these products are created and it is ugly. But it is gold.
Late in his life Walt Disney was on tape for a moment smoking. He asked them to erase the tape. He said that even though that was part of him (he was a chronic smoker), he was not Walt Disney anymore. He understood that what he had created belonged to the people that loved it now and he had to respect that. Walt never let commercial interests drive his organization. Later after his death that is what happened. (Walt would not let McDonalds into Disneyland, the purity of the park being seperate from the normal world was more important. Today there is a McDonalds fry stand in Frontierland). You have sold out and showed people how to best sell out like no one every has.
I once saw an interview where you said you don't care what the fans think, you write for you. Well I believe you.
~Zack
I just got back from your latest return to my youth Indiana Jones and the New B-Movieish Title from the 1950s. It is difficult to write this since I may not remember all the things I wanted to tell you while the movie was going. Also, The Daily Show is on and I have already got more enjoyment from the first 10 minutes of that (which they do nightly) than I did from the entirety of your new movie.
How to best approach this. Let's do it in segments.
Story
Please stop trying to write a story. You had something once. I don't know if it is because you were young and creative or it was because you didn't have the limitless power of CGI at your disposal to do what your heart truly desired, but you don't have it anymore. Your current situation is not working for you. This movie had some left over charm from the earlier movies. The mystery, the sets were reminiscent, and there was adventure. But adventure didnt grab me and make me believe like it did before. Every time i thought the characters might have a moment something exploded, or there was a comic relief moment, or something really cool happened like Shia driving a motorcycle down a train platform and everyone just treats it like normal becuase he looks so cool doing it with a sideways cap? Oh sorry, they probably didnt see him come out of the fucking solid cloud of smoke that he emerged from right next to the train car.
I dont know if you know this George, but just because you put a retro title on a movie, and use lots of special effects does not mean that we will believe what ever the fuck you put on screen. Which brings us of course, to believability. WARNING: Spoilers ahead.
Before I went to this, when I asked people what they thought of it that saw it before me they usually said "Eee it was an Indiana Jones movie." (p.s. Mr. Lucas no one really likes your movies anymore. We go to them because we loved the first ones and we have decided that finding out a little more of the story is worth you sucking the life out of these things that you have given to our generation. Thanks.) This was not an Indiana Jones movie. In Indy movies, you wonder if some of this might really be possible. Is that really hidden somewhere in the world? If I step out of my life could find this if I have the wherewithal and smarts like Dr. Jones to chase it?
An Indy movie shouldn't make me think "WHOA no way!. Amazing! Wait, really. No way." So within the first 30 minuts of the movie you want me to believe Indy can now use his whip to retrieve a gun and place it in the hand of a comrade ready to shoot, run on 3 inch wooden beams that are 4 feet apart 20 feet in the air, cross the desert on foot as fast as a motorcade, survive a ground zero nuclear explosion in a refrigerator (thanks for the close-up of the label telling me it is lined with lead so i wasn't drawn out of the movie thinking "Wha?" while it was hurled 30 fucking miles at who knows how many MPH, clear of the deadly radiation. Did Frigidaire have Inertial Dampening Systems in '54? Star Trek didn't get them until the 22nd century. The 50's were amazing!). Oh and while we are on the 50's stop brining us back to American Graffiti with blatant 1950s "at the Hop" scenes. You place me in a 50's diner with 20 guys in college jackets vs 20 tough looking guys (with pompadores) in leather jackets and put in a fun 50's tune to keep me into it!? Jesus man you totally pulled me out of the movie AGAIN thinking Where the fuck did that come from!? And while we are at it, your choice of music sucks. Choose a song that we havent heard 1000 times in every 50s movie. I have heard the oldies station, i know there are more songs than the ones on the Time/Life collection. I could go on with the "No way!" moments, but i would give you the whole movie. (the vine swing scene? FUCK!)
I don't remember if your plots were predictable when I saw the only ones, I was 10. But now, wait the kid is her son!? Wait, and he is YOUR son!? Wow, I did not see that coming and it really brings the whole thing together now. It is like, you are all family, this is the continuance I was looking for! And the scene where she told Indy the kid was his son? Was that really necessary? Do you remember back when you didnt have all the money in the world? Before you marketed the shit out of every franchise you own (more on that later) and you had to make choices? When most writers or directors write/film a story they have to think "Does this forward the plot?" There was NO REASON for them to make a half hearted escape attempt, have a moment in the sand trap (which at least wasnt CGI) to tell Indy the kids true identity, and get caught again. She could have told him in the tent in a subtle little scene and it would have meant so much more. Yes its possible that Speilberg would have overlit it from the back like he has done since A.I. Or that Harrison would have fucked it up since he lost his acting ability after Regarding Henry (if you want to see Harrison at his best, go rent The Frisco Kid) but at least you would have tried. Fucking choices man.
While we are talking about choices, lets talk about leaving some things to the imagination. At the end of Raiders, when we dont ever see what is in the Ark we just know that "It's Beautifuuaal", Jesus, everyone remembers that because we never saw it. At the end of this you showed us eeeverything! Don't show me your bloomers, thats not going to keep me coming back.
Special Effects.
Oh Mr. Lucas, this has been coming for a long time. Just because you can do something with computers, doesn't mean that you should. Do you remember when you did the first 3 Star Wars? People loved Yoda and Chewie. There is something about the physicality of masks and fake eyes, when done right, that people can really connect with. If someone is CG, even really good CG, your mind knows and if you arent thinking "Wow that is amazingly realistic", you still wont connect with the character I don't think. People loved Yoda and Chewie, and people remember Jaba. I didnt give a shit about the Wookies in the new Star Wars'. And although Yoda's fight scene was cool, if that was the original Yoda I wouldn't have really connected with him either. There is something about the physicality of looking into someones eyes, even when they are glass, that makes a difference. CGIChewie was not a big fuzzball. He was just a big pixelball and we all know it even though it is technically amazing to render hair with the complexity that we can now do. Good for you.
When I see that ILM is attached to a project these days, I am disappointed. I actually expect less of the movie after I see that because I know that you and all the people that work in the culture that you have created will just be blowing your virtual load all over the screen. Did you see the Fountain? The story could have been better, but the visuals were AMAZING and no CGI. If ILM had done it, there would be no meat to the scenes for me to hold on to, to hang emotions on to.
And this is where it is obvious that you let your imagination make no choices at all. I know that you can make your dreams come true because you can have someone at a computer do anything that you imagine. But a better story comes out of choices, out of limits, like exist in any medium. Except those don't exist for you, because you leased the Presido and you can do whatever you want.
Licensing
Which brings me to my last point, licensing. I know that you invented modern movie licensing and product tie-ins. But you have gone too far. I have now worked at 2 companies that you license to make products and licensing tie ins for. I know that most anything that your company touches turns to gold. The Star Wars slot machines are some of the biggest money makers for IGT. And even in that weird offshoot of your trademarked vault, they find new ways to slightly tweek the brand they are licensing, make a slightly different product, your guys say OK, and you make more money. You lay down some guidlines, they follow them, and everyone comes out richer. I see how shamelessly your intellectual copyrighted materials are. People love the novelty of them. They love that something that is special in their hearts is packaged in this weird way and want to experience that too. In a slot machine, on a Cheese-It box, in a slightly different slot machine with progressive wins!, on shirts, at Disneyland, etc. But these things work because they are special to people. You are taking advantage of the smile that comes on people's faces when they see something they love that you own. I have seen how these products are created and it is ugly. But it is gold.
Late in his life Walt Disney was on tape for a moment smoking. He asked them to erase the tape. He said that even though that was part of him (he was a chronic smoker), he was not Walt Disney anymore. He understood that what he had created belonged to the people that loved it now and he had to respect that. Walt never let commercial interests drive his organization. Later after his death that is what happened. (Walt would not let McDonalds into Disneyland, the purity of the park being seperate from the normal world was more important. Today there is a McDonalds fry stand in Frontierland). You have sold out and showed people how to best sell out like no one every has.
I once saw an interview where you said you don't care what the fans think, you write for you. Well I believe you.
~Zack
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Authoritative?
So currently I work at an Internet company. Before this I was working at IGT which is also a technology company, but much older and established. They make gaming machines (slot machines) and by their own admission they are not on the cutting edge of technology. They have a product that they make well and they stick to that.
I was in a meeting there one time (about January '07), one of the bullet points that the woman running the meeting had was that she wanted us to know that Wikipedia can be changed by anyone to say anything and wanted to let us know not to use it as a factual source of info for our writings. She said she just found that out and asked if anyone else in the room knew that. All of the other people were turning to each other saying "Ohh" and "I didnt know that" and "Did you know that?" I was so stunned. My shock must have been written all over my face because the woman running the meeting actually asked me "You knew that already Zack?" I had no words. For our work I knew we shouldnt be using Wikipedia as an authoritative resource but I wanted to let them see the beauty and possibilities in Wiki's. But in the moment I was stuck in there was no way to do that without being a total asshole. "Sure that is the whole idea of a Wiki, to harness the power of the community..."
I am about to start a little personal wiki project
So I let t go and just said, "yes I knew that" and then something about how there really still is a lot of good info there. It was a very surreal moment for me. My first reaction was to think I can't beleive they didn't know that! But i realized after that they are probably in the majority and me and people in my industry are in the minority, taking for granted what we see in these new technologies. In the past if something had as much buzz and trust as wikipedia does, of course it must be trusted as authoritative. But with Wikipedia you have to be aware that there very possibly are errors but it is the power of how much information and error correction (even if not authoritative) that makes it such a wealth of info. You have to learn to trust it differently.
Anyway, I am about to start a little personal Wiki project and I was thinking about that today. If my project works out, i'll let you know ;)
I was in a meeting there one time (about January '07), one of the bullet points that the woman running the meeting had was that she wanted us to know that Wikipedia can be changed by anyone to say anything and wanted to let us know not to use it as a factual source of info for our writings. She said she just found that out and asked if anyone else in the room knew that. All of the other people were turning to each other saying "Ohh" and "I didnt know that" and "Did you know that?" I was so stunned. My shock must have been written all over my face because the woman running the meeting actually asked me "You knew that already Zack?" I had no words. For our work I knew we shouldnt be using Wikipedia as an authoritative resource but I wanted to let them see the beauty and possibilities in Wiki's. But in the moment I was stuck in there was no way to do that without being a total asshole. "Sure that is the whole idea of a Wiki, to harness the power of the community..."
I am about to start a little personal wiki project
So I let t go and just said, "yes I knew that" and then something about how there really still is a lot of good info there. It was a very surreal moment for me. My first reaction was to think I can't beleive they didn't know that! But i realized after that they are probably in the majority and me and people in my industry are in the minority, taking for granted what we see in these new technologies. In the past if something had as much buzz and trust as wikipedia does, of course it must be trusted as authoritative. But with Wikipedia you have to be aware that there very possibly are errors but it is the power of how much information and error correction (even if not authoritative) that makes it such a wealth of info. You have to learn to trust it differently.
Anyway, I am about to start a little personal Wiki project and I was thinking about that today. If my project works out, i'll let you know ;)
Friday, May 16, 2008
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
New iPod!
Power Tool - Two Heads are Better than One (from the Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure soundtrack)
After my first iPod and the hard drive that all my music was backed up on also died magically at the same time about 3 years ago. I haven't bothered getting another iPod because of the pain of burning all the music again. But I got an iPod for my birthday so I saddled up a couple weekends ago and put all my music in there.
Dr. Octagon - halfsharkalligatorhalfman
Most of what I put on there are CDs that I have collected over the last 16 years. You know these, you have listened to them so many times there are some you don't really care about, there are some you still love, and there are some you bought more recently but that you still don't listen to that much.
If you are like me, there aren't as many of the later as there used to be. I just don't buy that many CDs anymore. And I was thinking when I was loading all this music up that my CDs just don't excite me like they used to. It is so much more fun to turn on Pandora, explore the Hype Machine, or turn on the Contrast Podcast and maybe find that one song every few weeks that I can't stop listening to.
Countries of the World - Animaniacs
The stuff I might find on the web is so much fresher than most of the stuff on my CDs. And not just because it's new, fresh like some little song from 20, 30, years or more that you have never heard (Vienna (live) - Billy Joel) or forgot how much you loved. (Golden Slumbers).
And Podcasts! I think it that my iPod will now be dynamic that is exciting, where before it just housed CDs. I wish it had a most recently downloaded. Or! I wish it could read RSS feeds so i could view my friends photostreams or read boing boing.
Maybe there is some way that I just dont know of yet, i'll go look.
After my first iPod and the hard drive that all my music was backed up on also died magically at the same time about 3 years ago. I haven't bothered getting another iPod because of the pain of burning all the music again. But I got an iPod for my birthday so I saddled up a couple weekends ago and put all my music in there.
Dr. Octagon - halfsharkalligatorhalfman
Most of what I put on there are CDs that I have collected over the last 16 years. You know these, you have listened to them so many times there are some you don't really care about, there are some you still love, and there are some you bought more recently but that you still don't listen to that much.
If you are like me, there aren't as many of the later as there used to be. I just don't buy that many CDs anymore. And I was thinking when I was loading all this music up that my CDs just don't excite me like they used to. It is so much more fun to turn on Pandora, explore the Hype Machine, or turn on the Contrast Podcast and maybe find that one song every few weeks that I can't stop listening to.
Countries of the World - Animaniacs
The stuff I might find on the web is so much fresher than most of the stuff on my CDs. And not just because it's new, fresh like some little song from 20, 30, years or more that you have never heard (Vienna (live) - Billy Joel) or forgot how much you loved. (Golden Slumbers).
And Podcasts! I think it that my iPod will now be dynamic that is exciting, where before it just housed CDs. I wish it had a most recently downloaded. Or! I wish it could read RSS feeds so i could view my friends photostreams or read boing boing.
Maybe there is some way that I just dont know of yet, i'll go look.
Monday, May 05, 2008
The Genographic Project
I accidentally woke up an hour early today so I might as well use the time (which has been precious lately) to write a post. I was at Louie's Basque Corner this weekend talking to an old basque guy who said that his son sent his DNA to the National Geographic and helped him trace his bloodline back 60,000 years! The other old basque guy we were talking to said, "Well what did you find out?" And the first guy said, "He found out we came from a couple of guys coming out of Africa!"
First, I thought it was awesome that he was willing to believe that his family came from Africa (the guy he was talking to was more skeptical). And second I thought it was amazing that there was a program like that. I had an idea what he might be talking about since i have Journey of Man at home on DVD. (here it is on Netflix) Journey of Man is a really amazing movie. I originally got it because my parents saw it and bought it for me thinking that I needed to see it and would love it. It is about how we are all related and the story of how geneticists are using markers in our blood to actually follow the migration of people over thousands of years. The host who is also one of the lead scientists working on the project is a little heavy handed but it is still amazing work. He goes around the world and finds people that have the genetic markers that help connect the story. There is something unexpectedly inspiring in the movie, not in the "we are all connected" way, but kinda. I highly recommend seeing it and finding out what I'm talking about ;)
Anyway, even after many Pecon punches and a full night of drinking, dancing, hiccups, and more fun than I should be allowed to pack into a night, the next morning I remembered what the guy said about the DNA test and found The Genographic Project. Sure enough, the project director is the same guy from Journey of Man and they are using DNA to look for markers. Just imagine, being able to trace where you came from tens of thousands of years back! Genealogy is a VERY time consuming process with dead ends and difficulties at every turn. Now as stated on the site,
this is not a genealogy study. You will not learn about your great-grandparents or other recent relatives, and your DNA trail will not necessarily lead to your present-day location. Rather, your results will reveal the anthropological story of your direct maternal or paternal ancestors—where they lived and how they migrated around the world many thousands of years ago.
Although it is much more impersonal than a genealogy with family names and the stories that you find in doing that research, this offers such a deeper look than any genealogy project could ever hope to.
But who knows. As the project grows and accrues more and more data and relationships there are numerous ways that you could use the data, ways we haven't thought of yet. Maybe more information could be associated with different lines or more specific lines. They might put the Mormon's to shame! (the leaders in genealogical data).
Anyway, stop reading this and go check out The Genographic Project website. It looks amazing.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Picon Punch at the Star
Sometimes I miss Picon Punches. I don't think it is the drink as much as the memories that go with it.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Hi again
I read Brian's blog tonight and can't seem to go to bed without writing in response. I like the Wii post, but I am referring to the Dooce post that i had previously read, but I guess not read the end of. I got Brian interested in blogging but he encourages me to keep going when I am slacking. It's like a symbiotic blogging relationship. I'm not sure who is Eddie Brock and who is the alien symbiote.
His little mention reminded me that I haven't been blogging much. I like blogging. I like writing which is why I started. I need practice, which is why I want to keep going. I have been too caught up in work and haven't done a lot of the things that I really love. But as much as I miss my friends, nevada, photography, blogging, reading, motorcycling, etc. I really love my job and I am having fun being part of something. I work at Flickr. I started because I loved using Flickr and it changed my life and got me into photography. I also love helping people. This I love more than anything else in the world and always have. I help the users because I work in customer service. But I also help the other people answering emails becuase I write training, and track down problems. I really believe that most people just want to do a good job. When there are people that want to do a good job, and just need the tools to do it, that is really important to me. I want to do whatever I can to help them and if I know that they don't have that, and their desire to do a good job is wasted and flittering away. It is hard for me to sleep. So I love doing what I can to make sure they have what they need. Which makes it so other people can do what they want. On Flickr which I think is a great site and enjoyed by so many. It is very fulfilling for me. I think that is the closest I have come yet to explaining why I enjoy my job so much.
I won't work too hard forever. I always go back to a balance but for now I am doing such good work I don't really want to stop. I feel like I am on a roll to something good. My confidence rises everyday. There is an idea brewing in my head that is slowly solidifying, I now really know I am capable of working hard enough to maybe really pull it off. That is what is driving me. I am in the place I am supposed to be. If I didn't think so I would go find adventure somewhere. I have never had much and I think its time. But there is something I have to do first and I am in the perfect place to try.
I think I'll do my norm and not spell check or proofread. Just stream of conscience.
I miss you all. You know who you are.
His little mention reminded me that I haven't been blogging much. I like blogging. I like writing which is why I started. I need practice, which is why I want to keep going. I have been too caught up in work and haven't done a lot of the things that I really love. But as much as I miss my friends, nevada, photography, blogging, reading, motorcycling, etc. I really love my job and I am having fun being part of something. I work at Flickr. I started because I loved using Flickr and it changed my life and got me into photography. I also love helping people. This I love more than anything else in the world and always have. I help the users because I work in customer service. But I also help the other people answering emails becuase I write training, and track down problems. I really believe that most people just want to do a good job. When there are people that want to do a good job, and just need the tools to do it, that is really important to me. I want to do whatever I can to help them and if I know that they don't have that, and their desire to do a good job is wasted and flittering away. It is hard for me to sleep. So I love doing what I can to make sure they have what they need. Which makes it so other people can do what they want. On Flickr which I think is a great site and enjoyed by so many. It is very fulfilling for me. I think that is the closest I have come yet to explaining why I enjoy my job so much.
I won't work too hard forever. I always go back to a balance but for now I am doing such good work I don't really want to stop. I feel like I am on a roll to something good. My confidence rises everyday. There is an idea brewing in my head that is slowly solidifying, I now really know I am capable of working hard enough to maybe really pull it off. That is what is driving me. I am in the place I am supposed to be. If I didn't think so I would go find adventure somewhere. I have never had much and I think its time. But there is something I have to do first and I am in the perfect place to try.
I think I'll do my norm and not spell check or proofread. Just stream of conscience.
I miss you all. You know who you are.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
The best Wiki I have found so far
Professional wrestling attacks
If you don't agree with me I will have to use an illegal testicular claw on you.
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