Two-thirds of world's resources 'used up'

As sad as the Terri Shaivo case is, it's time to talk about more important things than an individual life. This article points to what we all know is true. If the Earth was a credit card, our debt as human beings would be out of control.

From the Guardian Unlimited Two-thirds of world's resources 'used up'

Don Asmussen is a genius!

He has encapsulated this weeks news cycle into a dense but excellent Bad Reporter comic. At least there is some liberal media left. ;)

Scientists Find Soft Tissue in T-Rex Bone

This is really amazing. It looks like they'll be learning a lot more about dinosaurs over the next few years as a result of this discovery!

From Yahoo! News - Scientists Find Soft Tissue in T-Rex Bone

Eyes Wide Open : An Exhibition on the Human Cost of the Iraq War

Eyes Wide Open : An Exhibition on the Human Cost of the Iraq War

A twisted and silly comic to lighten the mood a bit

The Perry Bible Fellowship archive

What is the Religious RIght afraid of?

Is it perhaps that educated people understand that the biblical story of Creation was at worst the attempt of a less scientifically advanced society to explain how the hell we got here. At best it's a metaphor for God's hand in all things. Why must they persist in this either or argument that evolution is blasphemy and Creation is the only way to explain it?

Well the specter of the (self proclaimed) moral majority has struck again. Though apparently no direct complaints ever made it to these IMAX theaters, several of them are opting not to run a movie about under water ocean volcanoes because it speaks to the idea that organisms that became the land creatures may have begun in a place like this.

Read for yourself at NYT: A New Screen Test for Imax: It's the Bible vs. the Volcano

Why Does God Hate Caribou?

Why Does God Hate Caribou? / Drill for oil and screw Alaska's wildlife? Why, sure, all part of the imminent Rapture!

Cassini probe detects Enceladus atmosphere

The Cassini Probe has detected a substantial atmosphere and magnetic field around Saturn's moon called Enceladus. The moon is 310 miles wide and it's icy surface is considered the most reflective body in the solar system. Space is cool.

Cassini probe detects Enceladus atmosphere

TiVo Is Saved!!

TiVo today announced a deal with Comcast to provide a custom version of their software for Comcast's DVRs. Finally TiVo will have enough cash flow to do the great things they have planned.

TiVo reaches deal to make DVR for Comcast

Why Isn't The Halliburton Probe All Over US News?

You wouldn't think that a UK new site would have this on the front page when most US news sites don't have it anywhere on their site.

Halliburton in $108m Iraq probe

Why did Halliburton get to black out huge sections of this report? Halliburton said it was their right to protect trade secrets and proprietary information. However according to research done by NBC News, the passages that were blacked out actually had very damaging infomation about Halliburton's questionable actions, not trade secrets.

Apple Wars!

Apple wages war on her own rebel offspring.Ouch!

Benjamin Kenobi: Space Knight

Here's an excellent spoof of the latest Star Wars Episode III trailer. This one had me rolling!

Macintosh Shipments Seen Outpacing Industry

Credit Suisse First Boston thinks Apple Computer may be shipping 35% more Mac this quarter than the same quarter last year. That's compared to the overall industry growth estimate of 10%! Go Apple!!

Forbes.com: Apple Q2 Macintosh Shipments Seen Outpacing Industry

The New Star Wars Trailer Is Here!

Run, don't walk to see this one! This is the most incredible Star Wars trailer ever made! It is also, however, a trailer that gives away most of the plot. Trust me on this, I speak from experience. So if you're a diehard SW fan, I recommend you watch it only once and then never again. That way you'll be able to watch it and get excited for Episode III's arrival, but you'll be somewhat fresh when you go in to finally see it.

Check it out at starwars.com you'll be able to watch it online. You can also run out and see Robots (see my earlier review) and catch the trailer as it was meant to be seen...

Film Critics Are Idiots; My Review of 'Robots'

I've really hated reading movie reviews and finding that my own critique of a film differs from what the 'professionals' have said. But I have to say from the reviews I've read over the last couple days of the new Blue Sky/Fox Animation film 'Robots', I've rarely found my view of a film at greater odds with theirs.

One critic said the that cross town freeway sequence was too long. It was not. In fact it was over before I was done looking at all the cool things there were to see.

I've read complaints of no or little plot. Not the case. It's about following your dreams and living up to your full potential. A great message for kids!

Too many cultural references, NOT! Try Shrek 2 for too many cultural references. See how 'Aladdin' has lost a bit of it's shine already? It was just too topical! I do have to mention that in Robots, Fender (Robin Williams) stole every scene he was in (and that's a good thing). He was really on top of his game on this movie.

As much as I love Pixar movies (and I love them all!) Blue Sky really did create a look in this movie that is incredible. The surface textures (ranging from super shiny, to rusted and dented) were amazing!

Apple Joins Blu-Ray DVD Group!

Wow! I must say, wow! This is really, really big news. Now I guess we know why Mr. Jobs had Sony on stage with him on the same day he declared 2005 the year of HD. It was annouced today that Apple is joining the Blu-Ray DVD Consortium. The more I read about Blu-Ray the more happy with the format I am. A very good article at The Motley Fool explains well this announcement:

Apple Enters Blu-ray Fray

My personal favorite points:

"...benefits for Mac users who like to cut their own video, Blu-ray, with its promise of major storage capacity (50 gigs per disc) as well as simultaneous read-write capability, can be much more than just next year's DVD drive."

"Now imagine a machine that will let you watch simultaneous streams of video, while recording, and allow you to pop the discs into your laptop or any other Blu-ray set-top box? Now imagine that it works as simply as iTunes. See where I'm headed?"

What I see in this newly developing future is that the new Mac mini will be Blu-Ray compatible as soon as it's possible for Apple further making this the perfect living room PC! Very, very exciting stuff!

Bush Campaigning For SS Reform?

Why should George W Bush have to travel the country personally to sell the American people on Social Security Reform? If there really was a problem and SS was going to run into trouble in a few years, wouldn't there be a ground swell of people ALL chanting "Reform Now!"? Why does this smell to me like another of W's false information campaigns to get our permission to do something we wouldn't agree to any other way? Sounds like WMD/imminent threat/spread democracy crap all over again. So can we expect that the rhetoric will change as soon as his theories on the fall of SS are proven false? Like the flip flop job he's done every few months on the Iraq war?

I hate this guy. How soon is 2006? Not soon enough.

The Contender Premiere

I have to say, I wasn't going to watch it because I don't watch boxing but the promos made it pretty enticing. Well I thought the show was too long at an hour and half. Much of that was long drawn out 'tension building' moments that were simply too long.

I couldn't help feeling like the show, to a certain extent, was exploiting these guys. Most of them really have it tough. Talking about how this is they're shot to provide for their families, or take care of parents that were aging. The promos were right, I did shed a tear but it wasn't for the reason they'd design us to cry for. I guess if they agreed to join this, they aren't really being exploited. I guess I just don't feel completely comfortable with the idea.

That said, the show was very engaging. The match at the end was very good. It really did seem like the underdog fighting the experienced champion. I was rooting for Gomez because I like the underdog! He kick butt!

2006 Mazda Miata New Pictures!

I just came across the best pictures of the new 3rd generation Mazda Miata (known only as the MX-5 in Europe). The specs are still only coming in by small bits, but so far it's sounding great!

Specs (I've found so far): - 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder - upward of 160 hp - torque at about 140 lb-ft - 6-speed manual or automatic (with optional shift paddles at the wheel) - larger in all dimensions (with the wheelbase being a full 2.6" longer) - side-impact airbags - steering wheel mounted stereo and cruise controls - a 'media' button can be seen on the new Bose stereo (let's hope it's for iPod-type accessories!) - cupholders have been moved to the door panels! (nice) - a new console has been added between the shoulders of the two occupants - the center console is very different looking

Battlestar Galactica - Episode 109

"Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down"

Clever title for an episode about finding XO Tigh's missing wife. As always this episode was excellent. Sexy, political, action driven, character driven, funny... such a wonderful show. It really does show how good television science fiction can be. BSG sets the standard for science fiction today. So incredible.

Now my favorite new feature, the SciFi.com website is giving away little tidbits to keep us fans drooling over this fantastic show!

http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/episodes/season01/109/

This episode has three deleted scenes (revealing even more bits of plot that thicken the drama even more) AND a DVD-style commentary track! You can Podcast it or download it as mp3s and listen to the producers commentary as you watch the show!! I haven't made it through all four acts of this episode yet, but the insights into the creation of Tigh's character are fascinating. Anyone else see a Star Trek like franchise coming out of BSG? The next series could be called BSG: The Cylon Wars! We could catch up with Tigh and Adama back when they fought in the last Cylon conflict and how they met up. Please, SciFi, if you're listening (sic!) consider another BSG series!?!?!

Okay, must sleep now. Work calls my name for a 9am dailies...

Night.

Nothing's Funny On Sunday When You're at Work

Current Song: The Hanging Garden - The Cure - Pornography

Oh god, my mind is going. Today is my 7th day in a row working to finish a movie I'm working on. My brain is turning to mush. I'm waiting for my shots to be finaled by the visual effects supervisor. As soon as I get that... I'm outta here!!

It's already 4:19pm PST and I've been here since 9:30am and I'm ready to go home.

But who the hell am I? Well, I'm what we call in the visual effects industry a "digital compositor". I love my career every other day that I'm working, but on days like today (as we push the last shots out the door to finish a film) I fantasize about doing something else. What would I do? Well a tour guide in Yosemite National Park comes to mind, but really it could be anything that is opposite of what I'm doing at the moment. Something where I'm not sitting in front of a computer in a darkened room on one of the most beautiful Sundays we've had so far this year. Making something physical rather than digital would be nice too. It's hard to show people your work when you make digital effects. You have to have it on DVD or tape or go to a movie theatre. But that's not enough because when the work I do appears it goes buy so quickly that most people don't even know what they're looking for.

Current song: Greetings From A Dead Man - Eurythmics - 1984 (For The Love Of Big Brother)

So here I sit with my dreams waiting for my computers to finish their work. The end is near and home I will go. Rest, TV (perhaps watch the last Battlestar Galactica again before Star Trek Enterprise comes on), kick off the shoes, maybe a quick nap. Mmmmm......

The BLOG

I'm hoping to use this blog to share some of my interests, the things I do, my opinions on movies (and the idiot critics who think they know best) and lately I've found it very important to be more active politically.

Current song: What It Feels Like For A Girl (Above & Beyond 12" Club Mix) - Madonna - What It Feels Like For A Girl (single)

So much to get to. Must pace myself...