Thinking Out Loud

  • The Dork Report for March 8, 2006

    The Dork Report for March 8, 2006

    Willie sez: Mama, don’t let your kids grow up to be cowboys: Cowboys are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other) (no longer online: secretcowboys.com)

    Yes, Mistress! Faithful K-9 and spunky journalist/cutie-pie Sarah Jane Smith return just in time to rescue the very fabric of the universe from the deadly hand of the ultimate evil of doom!

    You too can Own the Underground (no longer online: shatnerdvdclub.com) with Captain Kirk for a mere $47.99 a year!

    Time Style & Design (no longer online: time.com/time/style) is comprised of approximately 95% fashion, 5% industrial design, and 0% graphic design. Even worse, it used to just be called Time Design.

    Dave McKean (no longer online: dreamline.nu) interviewed for Mirrormask by FilmFocus and TimeOut.

    Skip this one unless you’re a web designer/developer: An absurd patent lawsuit (no longer online: news.com.com/Microsoft+updates+IE+after+patent+spat/2100-1032_3-6044418.html) by opportunist Eolas against Microsoft will add a significant annoyance (no longer online: macromedia.com/devnet/activecontent) to one of the technical aspects of my job, but more seriously, will also sour the experience of most web users. Mozilla’s response is quite insightful.

  • The Dork Report for March 7, 2006

    The Dork Report for March 7, 2006

    Cheap therapy (no longer online: okcupid.com/tests/take): find out what’s wrong with you but not how to fix it. Me? I’m an Outcast Genius (60% Nerd, 56% Geek, 69% Dork), an Observer (Enneagram type FIVE – BZ), but a pathetic 47% fuckable.

    Gorillaz to tour as 3D holograms (no longer online: pitchforkmedia.com/news/06-03/02.shtml)? Did I somehow miss a scientific revolution here? Since when was that possible? Hang on, never mind (no longer online: timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1856928,00.html).

    Bush-of-Ghosts.com should go live any day now, with the complete multi-tracks from the David Byrne & Brian Eno collaboration My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.

    Lego Lunacy aggregated. (spotted on Boing Boing)

    Trailerpark: Sleepless in Seattle Redux (no longer online: youtube.com/watch?v=vI89JJ-fxbs), Brokeback to the Future (no longer online: youtube.com/watch?v=zfODSPIYwpQ), Brokeback Island (no longer online: defamer.com/hollywood/brokeback-mountain), The Shining Redux (no longer online: tatteredcoat.com/archives/2005/09/28/the-shining-redux), Fight Club as romantic comedy (no longer online: throughaglass.com/extras/fightclub2.html).

    Portions of today’s Dork Report were brought to you by the letter A for Andrea.

  • Steven Soderbergh’s Bubble

    Steven Soderbergh’s Bubble

    As Bubble‘s loos into the lives of factory workers in an economically depressed town turns into a noir (as Steven Soderbergh himself notes on the commentary track), I caught a whiff of class anthropology. That said, I understand Soderbergh’s point that critics’ charges of exploitation are condescending; the non-actors are intelligent human beings who wholly knew what they were getting into.

    With this project, Soderbergh is tackling several unknowns at once: high-definition video, the feasibility of simultaneous release, and the storytelling device of drawing on the real-life experiences of non-actors. How does one tell if an experiment is a success when there are so many variables?

  • Daily Dork Report for March 2, 2006

    Daily Dork Report for March 2, 2006

    Wow, dude from Dominos is straight-up hard-core Catholic (no longer online: news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=315402006), baby. Watch your tail, Chick-fil-a.

    Steampunk Transformers (no longer online: idwpublishing.com/titles/transformers/hos.shtml), with art by… Ted McKeever (no longer online: luna7.com/tmckeever/tmckeever.html)?! Isn’t that sort of like hiring David Lynch (no longer online: davidlynch.com) to direct G.I. Joe?

    Mickey is now a one-button mouse.

    My difficult-to-pronounce boy from Philly is certainly a big-spender.

    This is simultaneously fascinating and enraging (no longer online: familymediaguide.com/specials/Oscars_2006.html). I sympathize with parents who don’t have time to keep up with popular culture and need an unbiased information source to judge for themselves whether or not a movie is appropriate for their kids, but I don’t think this is it. Who are these people? Who appointed them? I’m worried they are indirectly censoring films, under the guise of informing parents. It’s about the children, you understand.

    Let’s see, what did we get out of Apple’s latest extravaganza:

    • iPod Hi-Fi (no longer online: apple.com/ipodhifi): No doubt a fun toy for flush audiofiles, but kinda useless for a New York City apartment-dweller like myself.
    • Mac Mini: Take out the video card, add a remote control, and it costs $100 more? Although to be totally honest, I must admit I don’t really understand what a video card does. While the whole concept of a Mac media center thingie on my TV sounds really neat, the price hike completely soured it for me.
    • Leather iPod Case: insanely overpriced cow-flesh sleeve with no access to the face. In other words, it’s designed specifically to scratch your iPod. I just have to join in the chorus here: What were they thinking?

    Thank goodness that during the phenomenal catastrophe that was Katrina, Bush was watching a lot of television and asking a lot of good questions.

    Absolute Sandman. Darn. Guess I wasted my time and money tracking down those first-edition hardcovers on eBay…

    Portions of today’s blockbuster Dork Report were brought to you by Andrea & Dave.

  • Kelly Macdonald and Bill Nighy bond over extreme poverty in The Girl in the Café

    Kelly Macdonald and Bill Nighy bond over extreme poverty in The Girl in the Café

    Richard Curtis and David Yates’ The Girl in the Café, a BBC movie aired in the US on HBO, was incredibly cute, and my heartstrings were indeed pulled, but I couldn’t shake the sense the love story was mere dressing for the real purpose of the film: explicating the issue of extreme poverty to help warm the public up for Live 8. Of course, I feel heartless for criticizing this aspect of it.

    Plus, the age difference between Bill Nighy and Kelly Macdonald was so vast that — forget about their characters’ conflict over whether to battle or defer to stubborn politicians — it’s an issue unto itself. But if possible to overlook that, it’s a perfectly charming and lovely movie.

    Reykjavik should hereby pass an ordinance decreeing its name shall heretoforth be spoken only in Macdonald’s Scottish accent.

  • Daily Dork Report for February 27, 2006

    Daily Dork Report for February 27, 2006

    What will it be? What will it be? What will it be? What will it be?

    Perfect for the Dork Report: a veritable masterclass in committee-think & graphic design don’ts… and it has to do with iPods!

    Still more new territory for Google. I guess they’re aiming for .Mac here.

    There’s a new Devil Bunny [no longer online: projectfast.com] in town, rivalling Frank from Donnie Darko and the other one from Sexy Beast.

  • Daily Dork Report for February 24, 2006

    Daily Dork Report for February 24, 2006

    A 2007 Genesis reunion tour, including departed members Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, and Steve Hackett? Their official statement, Via Tony Smith Personal Management: “There are no decisions by Genesis to perform anywhere whatsoever at this time. This situation will not alter in the next twelve months.” Even if nothing comes of this, there are still the 5.1 surround reissues to look forward to.

    Speaking of: The Return of the Giant Hogweed. [update: link offline: thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/8039/?cpg=26H]

    The return of the black costume in Spider-Man 3? What’s really dorky is that I could explain (in detail) exactly what this means.

    Evolution of a flawed concept: Apple Desk Accessories » Konfabulator » Yahoo Widgets » Apple Dashboard » Windows Vista Gadgets

  • Daily Dork Report for February 21, 2006

    Daily Dork Report for February 21, 2006

    I’ve just gotta say: Smoothicons. So smooth, so icon-y. You can do no better.

    Finally, an explanation (no longer online: wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,68893,00.html) as to why my iPod seems to have a strange affection for Future Sound of London and “Jessica” by the Allman Brothers.

    The Best. Game. Ever. in its Lego incarnation. Found via Boing Boing.

  • Daily Dork Report for February 18, 2006

    Daily Dork Report for February 18, 2006

    Robots in disguise (no longer online: techeblog.com/wr-07-a-real-transformer)! It’s true, it’s all true! And fake, too.

    I swear my colleagues & I had nothing to do with this. In fact, none of us over here in New York had any idea what our LA counterparts had done until it hit the news. Almost as exciting as when their Wedding Crashers site was debated in Congress (no longer online: zap2it.com/movies/news/story/0,1259,—26365,00.html).

    Marvel is evidently running out of plotlines for Spider-Man. I grew up during their last attempt to change his look (no longer online: spiderfan.org/characters/himself/costume/black), which was both way cooler and no doubt easier on the artists.

    What does FEMA do? (Yes it’s real). Found via Signal vs. Noise.

    A new mini web game (no longer online: katamaridamacy.jp:80/qa_data/katamari.html) based on the Best. Game. Ever. that rather fails to bring The Fun. Found via Boing Boing.

  • Eight Below

    Eight Below

    More dogs! Fewer people! In fact, how about no people at all? Then this two-plus hour slog could be transformed into a nice hour of lovely nature photography and cute fluffy pups fighting adversity.

    I hope Disney makes it clear this is a PG film not for the really little ones, for there’s a scene in there that scared the bejeezus out of a room full of seasoned adults. But it is often too cute; most notably in the scene where the dogs suddenly begin “talking” to each other. And the lovable canines remain plump and well-groomed despite starving in the tundra for 3 months.