9

This last weekend, Leslie and I went to watch "9" - which is an animated film, but definately not for kids. This movie is intense...and I'm in love with it. Rag dolls and a psycho machine in a post-apocalyptic world. There are no gross-out jokes, low-brow humor here, animal friends, or yet another musical number.

Just plot.

And what an awesome plot it is. Not only that, but it was executed beautifully. I really can't find any flaw or even a "gee, if they did it this way..." moment. Most movies nowadays are mindless entertainment - which isn't always bad. But this one...this one makes up for all the drivel I've seen over the past 10 years or so. I find my mind is constantly wandering back to it to pick apart all the neat things that didn't occur to me while watching.

Two Words for You: "Sput"..."Nik"

Fifty years ago today, Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite to be put into geocentric orbit.

Time to dust off my Iron Giant DVD and enjoy a good movie set in that time period. If you haven't seen the movie, go rent it. Good stuff.

Silence is Golden

Okay here are the instructions I was given:

Steve,

Congratulations! You have been selected to advance to the next round of the Ultimate Gamer Test.

The Next Challenge:

Produce a 3 minute video in which you pitch your favorite game to a theoretical fellow gamer who has not played it before.

You must then post the video to a publicly accessible web site (like YouTube, etc.) and send a link to the video to UGT@wizards.com by 11:59 p.m. EDT, Sunday, July 8.

The videos will be judged on three criteria:
1. Engaging - does your video engage the viewer and make them want to keep watching?
2. Compelling - does your video make the viewer want to play your favorite game?
3. Overall Presentation - is the quality of your video good? Is it entertaining to watch?

Considerations when making the video:
* Your video must be P.G. No nudity, bad language or obscenity of any kind (we know, this was the first thing you thought of).
* Be creative. There are many ways to show off your favorite game.
* You must appear in your video.
* The video can be no longer than 3 minutes.
* Be sure that you post it to a publicly available web site (no password, etc.)

Five finalists will win a trip to Gen Con, Indianapolis from August 16 -19, with 4-day passes, airfare, and hotel paid for by Wizards of the Coast. In addition, the winner will receive a seat on the Gleemax Advisory Board as well as $1000 in Wizards product. The runner-up will also receive a seat on the Gleemax Advisory Board. See http://www.gleemax.com/articles/rules.html for full rules and details.

Win or not, I had an incredibly fun time doing this. Taking off on the "Be creative" phrase, I went and put together an olde-tyme, silent movie...complete with the music that sounds like it is coming from a tin can (or is that just my speakers?). Honestly, I don't know if that is what they are looking for or not, but I had fun and learned how to use the iMovie program that was hiding on my computer.

There is a lot more I would have like to do, but given the limitations on available equipment, time, and my lack of acting ability, I think it turned out alright...for what it is. Besides, fake-aging the movie covered up a lot of blurry and bumpy shots (VERY small camera...like cell phone small. Not exactly the best thing for a project like this.)

In any case, HERE IT IS!. It's about 8 MB in size, so if you are on a dial up, it might take awhile. Just remember, I got my education in Anthropology, not Cinematography!

So...honestly...does it make you interested in playing the game, or are you just left with: "That guy is an idiot..."?

Old Movies and New Changes

Vertigo was pretty good. Definately not like the fast pace movies of today. I could see what happened at the end coming, but I didn't know how it was going to happen. Nice little bit of suspence there.

Next movie on The List: 8 1/2

As I've mentioned, I play an online game called Puzzle Pirates. The crew I belong to just split this week and there a some hard feelings about it. I was disappointed to see it happen the way it did myself. Yeah, it's an online game, and yeah, I don't really know these people, but it did seem a bit like being abandoned by your friends. It is really just unfortunate.

I have always found it interesting to watch the dynamics of an online community. I wonder if any sociologists have ever done a study. You would think they have, but you never know.

Busy Weekend and Lack of Time

I actually had a lot of things going on this weekend that I wanted to write about, but I'm finding it harder to take the time to actually do it. That was my main problem with keeping journals before. I just didn't want to take the time to sit and put it down on paper.

Anyway, yesterday was Father's Day. My wife and kids bought a little clock/radio/cd player for me to use at work. So now I'm sitting listening to The Bobs. Life is good.

I also had the beginnings of a spiritual message for yesterday, but I didn't get around to finishing it. There has got to be some sort of universal principle in that sentence. I'll leave it to you to work it out. Hopefully by next Sunday I'll have something finalized.

I've also been on a bit of a classic movie kick. Friday, we watched the old French film The Rules of the Game, and I have Vertigo next on the list. I thought Rules was an alright movie, but hard to keep track of who was who, especially since I was more concentrated on reading the subtitles instead of looking at the faces. It's not one I'd like to own, but it was entertaining. Vertigo should be interesting. I don't remember ever watching a Hitchcock movie.