WEBLOG:
TED is one of my current favorite websites. Anyone who admires and respects brilliant minds in various technology, entertainment, design, and the arts should watch these inspiring and sometimes amazing and profound talks. It really is an amazing gift to the world to host these talks for free, so that all the brilliant and relevant ideas presented could spread all over the globe and make this world a better place. Here are some of my favorite talks I’ve watched:
This one is quite profound and especially interesting if you are passionate about cooking and food:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dan_barber_s_surprising_foie_gras_parable.htm
Makes you feel like a useless piece of garbage when you compare yourself to examples of admirable heroes:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/samantha_power_on_a_complicated_hero.html
Absolutely fascinating on how the human mind works:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/vilayanur_ramachandran_on_your_mind.html
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html
Music related–fascinating and inspiring:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/evelyn_glennie_shows_how_to_listen.html
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/astonishing_performance_by_a_venezuelan_youth _orchestra_1.html
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If you’ve read/played Choose Your Own Adventure books/games as a child, and you love zombie fiction, then you might enjoy Survive the Outbreak, an interactive movie/game where you have to make choices in order to survive. I think it’s a good idea, but the design was not ideal, as the choices and the outcomes sometimes felt arbitrary–a clear lack of experience in game design. In today’s world of sophisticated interactive games, their approach felt a too simple-minded, but I appreciate the effort.
My brother Dennis and I have a soft spot for the Choose Your Own Adventure books/games, because when we move to the States as children, they were some of the earliest books that we read in English, and they in a way introduced us to the world of sci-fi/fantasy/horror/RPG. Those amazing pen&ink illustrations by Ian McCaig still blow me away to this day (though he’s more known as the Star Wars character designer these days).
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The Xbox 360 is known for being very loud when used without the hard drive, and since I can’t find a hard drive around here locally yet (back-ordered everywhere), I have to endure the noise. No more. I decided to shove the console into the computer corner of my desk behind the ISO panels (I had posted about the design and function of these panels in past entries–they are to minimize the noise from the computers):
Now I can turn the lights off, pop in a frightening horror game, and as I walk carefully down some dark corridor stained with blood and body parts, I can enjoy the spooky sound design of demonic whispers and freaky ambient echos without hearing that annoying disc spinning sound.
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Quickie movie reviews:
The Queen – I watched this film mainly due to the rave reviews, and it was a very interesting film–especially to an American like myself who typically for the most part isn’t very interested in the British monarchy, but have learned a great deal about the role they play in today’s British society. I suppose in a way, the monarchy is a source of comfort, because they are a tradition that doesn’t just go away after a term is up, so their consistency becomes something you can depend on emotionally. This is of course if the monarch is one that has a positive influence on society as opposed to one that is oppressive and cruel, but that’s the beauty of the British monarch–they are effectively powerless and cannot actually do any harm, and without power, they will tread a lot more carefully as the people can strip away their royal status. I think the film captures that delicate balance quite well, and it’s also an interesting insight into Tony Blair’s change of attitude as his relationship with The Queen evolves. James Cromwell was amazing as Prince Phillip–very few American actors can pull off such a convincing English accent–especially getting the right kind of English accent that fits the region and the social class of the character portrayed.
The Warriors – My brothers and I used to watch this on HBO late at night as kids in the 80’s, and we used to think it’s such an intense film–fearing for the lives of the protagonists as they tried to find a way to get home. I finally watched it again after all these years as a 36-yr old adult, and the film doesn’t hold up very well, and I could not see when as a child the film seemed that intense to me. Overall it’s a pretty cheesy film, though the premise is intriguing. Makes me wonder how many more films from my childhood would no longer hold up today.
Tropic Thunder – Every once a while I will disagree vehemently with film critics about a film, and this is one of those times. I really didn’t like this film (although the film received a lot of rave reivews), despite being a big fan of Robert Downey Jr. I’m in general not a big fan of low-brow humor, especially when it is piled high with low-brow clichés and ridiculous silliness bordering on idiocy. There are some aspects of the film I thought worked (such as Downey’s character and the amazing performance by Tom Cruise–I didn’t even notice it was him until towards middle of the film), but the execution for the entire film is done with such a juvenile approach that the negative just far outweighs the positive. Don’t get me wrong, I do love humor, just not that particular brand of humor.
The Gathering – A disappointing film overall. The idea is interesting, but the execution was clumsy, with plot holes the size of moon craters. I guess if you like Christina Ricci you could watch it just for her.
