The New York Times looks at Randy Newman's "Louisina 1927" and its evolution via the folk song tradition. While the song's prominence after Hurriane Katrina was hardly surprising, it did strike me as slightly odd, or ironic, that a song about people being flooded to save New Orleans, or New Orleans' reputation, would be coopted to be about the destruction of New Orleans. But as this article shows, that's to be expected, given the towns tradition of reinventing songs. And certainly the callousness of authority to the destruction is the same.

In other Randy Newman news, apparently he can't outrun the damn paparazzi. LEAVE RANDY ALONE! Actually, though, this makes me wonder if I shouldn't leave a piano in my front yard, maybe it will attract Randy Newman.

"Through Weegee's Lens": The New York Times has a profile today of photographer Jill Freedman.

More info on the shark attack. After fielding phone calls about this all day, I can finally go home and watch the news and actually find out what happened. I was surprised by just how ape-shit the media went (which helps explain all the calls). Though I suppose I shouldn't be; It is very shocking news, not something you'd expect here in San Diego.

I was surprised to see how many people were in the water at La Jolla Shores. It would be silly to retreat from the water forever because of this one freak incident, but I still wouldn't get in the water the day of the attack, between the location of the attack and the sea lions at the Children's Pool.

Breaking news: Fatal shark attack in Solana Beach.

Clinton, Obama, John Edwards all on The Colbert Report Thursday night. Hillary's bit just wasn't funny; Obama at least seemed to engage Colbert a bit. But it was John Edwards who stole the show; it's a shame that politicians can only be likable when they're out of the running.

Chris Gaffney, dead at 57. Only saw him perform once, at the Belly Up, opening for Dave Alvin with the Hacienda Brothers, and later playing with Dave.

Hazel Court, dead at 82. I watched her in The Raven just the other night.

The Nazi origins of the Olympic torch relay. Leni Riefenstahl staged the first torch relay, to "create the myth the Greeks never got around to telling." Sad, that in all the coverage of the torch protests, I first learned of this history not from the real news, but from The Daily Show (which led Jon Stewart do boast, at the end of his show, of his ability to open on a dreidel joke and close on a Hitler joke):

Ollie Jonston, Disney animator, dead at 95.

Padres lose in 22-inning overtime. After the 18th inning, sprinklers came on in the Park at the Park.

I saw a high school production of Urinetown: The Musical last weekend. Once I got over the awkwardness of being the only person in the audience not enrolled at or employed by the school, or related to someone who was, I had a grand old time watching one of my favorite musicals. Now I see that my college has a production of the selfsame musical this weekend, so I figure I might as well see it two weeks in a row. Perhaps Urinetown can be my Friday night thing, or if that's too difficult, just urine in general.

Slate looks back at the photograph "The Soiling of Old Glory," from Boston's 1976 busing crisis. The slide show also includes a chilling photograph of a woman and child falling from a fire escape; it reminded me of a segment on This American Life's television program about the photographs mentioned here, which I can't find reproduced online. Of course, the only possible moral ambiguity in the falling women photograph would be voyeurism (at the forefront of my mind, as I watched Peeping Tom last night), as it is more obvious that there was no action the photographer should take (and he did avert his gaze before impact).

The Monty Hall problem hits research into cognitive dissonance. That article had a link to a vintage New York Times article from around the time of the Marilyn vos Savant controversy, where Monty Hall himself tried to settle the matter. Really emphasizes Hall's role on "Let's Make a Deal" as a skillful huckster. There's a documentary, Deal, with a behind-the-scenes look at "Let's Make a Deal." Not all that great a documentary, overall, but seeing all that Monty Hall had to juggle during a taping was impressive. And, as a part-owner of the show, every penny he avoided giving to a contestant was money in his pocket.

People like people with the same name. We like things that remind us of ourselves. So why does the new Mike Myers movie look to me like a piece of shit?

So, I finally got around to returning to the library the VHS cassette trapped in my VCR. Returning it still entombed, of course. I hoped maybe it came up enough that the librarians might have some pointers as to how to remove it, but no such luck. Some patrons actually had some useful information as to how the mechanism holding the cassette works, but the gears they indicated we should turn weren't going to budge. The librarian seemed concerned with not damaging my VCR, which as this point I didn't care about. But even handling it a bit rougher, he didn't have any more luck than I at removing it. So he renewed the video for me, sent me home with my VCR, and suggested I try a little more to remove it on my own. So when I got home, I took out a hammer, and tried to pry off the metal cover of the cage holding the cassette, and it popped of with almost no effort. I'd failed in previous attempts, so apparently the combined stress of various attempts finally loosened it enough that it came off without a fight. Continuing to use the claw of a hammer, I then tried to break off the plastic pieces holding the cassette in place, without damaging the cassette itself. I couldn't break the plastic bits off, but I did manage to stretch it just enough that I could work the cassette out of the VCR and to freedom. So a half-hour later, I headed back to the library, returned the cassette (no visible damage, though I wouldn't recommend watching it), and at last my library record was unencumbered.

It did occur to me, driving home, that I should have waited until today to return the cassette. I came in with the cassette stuck in my VCR, no idea what to do; they tinkered with it for awhile and sent me on my way. A half-hour later, the tape is free. That sounds suspicious, as though I had some sort of electronic Munchausen by Proxy, getting things stuck in my VCR only so I can remove them and be hailed a hero. So hopefully my library record has not been flagged for deviancy. In any event, I don't think I'll be checking out any more VHS cassettes, no point tempting fate.

Colbert announced the other day that he won a Peabody this year (he thanked the Peabodys and their boy Sherman); now I see Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me also won a Peabody. Apparently, I am on the Peabody Award committee, and didn't realize it. If it turns out the Sirloin Steak and Egg Burrito at Jack in the Box also won a Peabody, that'll be all the proof I need.

Grand Prix head assures the public his orgy did not have Nazi undertones. No, sir, it was your typical, mom-and-pop, meat-and-potatoes orgy.

A look at the film D.O.A.. Included is a promotional piece suggesting theaters host an essay contest, with the theme of when a man is justified in hitting a woman. I remember being disappointed in the film when I saw it years ago, but amused by the doctor with about the worst bedside manner I've seen on film. "Geez, tell a guy he's got 24 hours to live, and he gets all worked up or something."

Greenbriar Picture Shows is also where I found this post about pre-code marketing, including an interesting ad for Freaks: "Tonight and Thursday with shame our screen unfolds the worst picture ever made! Don't See It! And be assured you missed nothing!"

Seuss sez: Stop making movies of my books.

Charlton Heston, dead at 84. People thought that the Supreme Court's upcoming hearing on the D.C. handgun ban would be an important milestone in the history of the Second Amendment, but now, with Heston's hands cold and dead, the issue seems to be moot.

In all respect, I should say that Touch of Evil is one of my favorite movies, and Heston deserves thanks for managing to play a Mexican in a manner as inoffensive as possible, considering he was Charlton Heston playing a Mexican.

This American Life being simulcast live to theaters nationwide. Good idea, but $20 seems a bit steep for what is apparently a commercial for season two of their television show. I like the idea of these live events being broadcast to movie theaters, but the pricing seems out of whack. People are accustomed to paying $10 at the most for a movie, and they (or I, at least) won't pay much over that for a live event. At $12, I might, $15, I'd consider, but any higher than that and I feel like I'm being taken for a chump. I'd rather just donate $20 to public radio.

Wayne "Frosty Freeze" Frost, dead at 44.

Jules Dassin, dead at 96.

Today's theme is hypocrisy on parade:

Sony BMG, scourge of music pirates, is found to have tons of pirated software on their servers.

University of Texas San Antonio plagiarizes plagiarism policy.

So, I've been filling in some gaps in my cultural education, watching Vincent Price horror movies. Some, like House of Wax, are on DVD, but for some films, I've had to go back to the old standby of VHS cassettes from the local library. And tonight, I tried to watch one, The Comedy of Terrors. But the cassette wouldn't go into the VCR. It would go half-way in, and then the VCR would spit it out. My VCR is, of course, old, so I wasn't sure if it was the tape or the unit, so I went into the back bedroom to give that one a try. The cassette went in fine, but then nothing happened, and it wouldn't eject the tape. I tried to force it out, but I could feel the film wrapped around the tape head or whatever inside the VCR. I tried disassembling the VCR, and got the case off of it, but couldn't get the cassette-holding portion open to remove the tape. So tomorrow, I'm taking my VCR to the library to see what they suggest. I figure this must happen from time to time, maybe they have some tips. I think the tape was defective, but if I have to pay for it, I'll live. As long as they aren't dicks about it (I got the tape from the city library, not the county library where I volunteer, so I don't have any special connections to rely on here).

Anyway, in light of this setback, I decided to watch The Tomb of Ligeia instead. But it appeared that whoever last checked it out was far from kind, so I would have to rewind. But every time I tried to rewind it, I heard the VCR's motor revving for a moment, but then the unit shut down. If I pressed play, I could rewind while the feature played, but then it rewound at an extremely slow pace. I had a feeling this cassette was defective, too (which would explain why the previous viewer didn't rewind), and didn't want to risk another incident like Comedy of Terrors, so I removed the cassette from my VCR unwatched.

Cursing the antiquated technology, I decided the safe bet was to watch a film in the ultra-high-tech HD DVD format. I've had Talk to Me at home from Netflix for like two months, and decided I should finally watch it. I even chuckled to myself, thinking that, given my luck this evening, I'd probably end up getting the Red Ring of Death watching it on my XBox 360 HD DVD add-on (I actually had Talk to Me out from Netflix when my XBox red-ringed, and returned it unwatched while my unit was repaired). But I never got to that point. When I removed the disc from its Netflix envelope, it came out in two pieces. Talk to Me was released in a hybrid format, with an HD DVD on one side and a standard DVD on the other. Apparently they're just glued together or something, because they came right apart on me. I thought maybe I could still play just half a disc, but given my track record for the evening, I decided not to experiment.

So three films, three strikes. The good news is, eventually, I was able to watch My Kid Could Paint That without incident. Okay documentary, and if you're interested in my opinion, the kid didn't paint the paintings, certainly not in the manner the parents claim. To say that a four-year-old painted every painting, from the first one on, with no assistance, implies that the parents are awful people. "No, sweetheart, you have to do that alone. You're four years old, we can't coddle you forever!" Of course they helped. As one curator, who rejected a Marla work submitted to her art show before Marla's rise to fame, noted in an outtake included on the DVD, who picked the canvases? Are we to believe a four year old decided on her own she wanted to paint a triptych? Also included with the special features, which I watched with judicious use of the fast-forward button, was a Q&A session, in which one supporter of Marla basically explained to a questioner that, since he never himself was a painter, his opinion didn't matter. Of course, since he was once four years old, and no doubt dabbled in finger-painting, his claim as an artist is as absolute as Marla's. For some reason, that lady's comment really pissed me off, and angried up the blood. So, fuck you, old lady. But I digress. Interesting film, but I don't know what the take-away from it is. The filmmaker intended, before the question of authenticity was raised by "60 Minutes," to make a statement about modern art, but the unanticipated shift in the narrative muddies things a bit too much. And ultimately, I was surprised just how little I cared. It's hard to get worked up about parents exploiting their child, when she's having a fine time and now has a six-figure college fund. Perhaps there's a message to be derived from the owner of the gallery promoting Marla's work. When she has her fall, and her work stops selling for awhile, he seems glad that, at last, he can openly gloat in his big "fuck you" to the modern art community (his own work is in the photorealism genre). But when her work starts selling again, it's like that conversation never happened. So what does that mean? The business of art is driven by both spite and pragmatism? Some people are tools? Photorealism ain't where the money's at? Food for thought, I suppose.

Al Jaffee profiled in the New York Times. He has drawn every Mad Magazine fold-in from the beginning to today; I just assumed some staff artist had assumed responsibility for the feature somewhere along the way. I also must say I felt a bit dense; it never occured to me that the fold-in was a parody of the fold-out features in Playboy et al. For the love of God, check out the interactive gallery of fold-ins which accompany the article. One of those things that reminds you why you got out of bed in the morning; maybe, just maybe, there'd be something beyond awesome on the internet. Or maybe that's just me. Anyways, you can probably guess which two fold-ins are my favorite; but I also enjoyed very much the more somber fold-ins in the "War and the military" category.

Stuff White People Like lands $300,000 book deal. In a related story, somebody at Random House has gone completely apeshit crazy. Hey, Random House, turn this blog into a book. Unlike the White People blog, nobody's already read this one, so it'll be all new content (and I won't even have to do anything).

That said, I will be reading the I Can Has Cheezburger book when it comes out.

Dith Pran, photographer of Killing Fields fame, dead at 65.

Have a history of dubious business deals and a string of angry investors and suspicious prosecutors looking into you? You probably shouldn't appear on "My Super Sweet 16." I remember hearing about this on "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" a few months back.

Anti-emo riots break out in Mexico. So if you visit Mexico, wear your Fall Out Boy t-shirt, and maybe while you're busy being bludgeoned by punks, the drug cartels will not bother to murder you.

Gustavo Arellano of Ask a Mexican fame does see a possible upside: "This teaches the rest of the world that Mexico is not just a bunch of cactuses and sombreros."

Could Al Gore be the next Democratic presidential candidate? If the Democratic leadership is as stupid as they seem, possibly. Seems an ideal way to piss off Obama and Clinton supporters, while subverting the democratic will. Of course, this idea is coming out of Florida, which seems unclear on how this whole "voting" thing works. Of course, it's always someone else's fault, they say (Nader, Buchanan, Howard Dean), but it always just happens to happen in Florida.

Arnold Schwarzenegger fires Clint Eastwood over San Onofre toll road.

Richard Widmark, dead at 93.

XETV channel 6 is out as San Diego's Fox affiliate. And I for one welcome the move. As a small child, I was terrified of the old XETV logo. Apparently it came on one time in the middle of a program due to technical difficulties, and my sister told me it meant I broke the TV (though I contend that, beyond that, the logo itself is creepy--the number six and yellow don't mix). For several years later, the mere site of the icon would cause me to bury my head in a pillow and slowly sob. Even today, I feel a vague unease looking at it.

The sad thing is, I'm totally serious. And, despite a dreadfully poor memory, especially of my early years, I can remember the texture of my grandparent's couch and pillows as my grandparents tried to figure out why the TV commercial made me scream.

Wal-Mart sues brain-damaged woman whose son died in Iraq to recoup their health care costs. Not a surprise, of course, that Wal-Mart is evil. Though I guess a story this pathetic means I'll have to find a new place to get my oil changed.

Clinton "misspoke" about sniper fire. As if there weren't enough reasons not to vote for her, I have to say I am extremely uneasy about voting for any candidate whose concentration in office might be diverted due to what I can only imagine is the immense psychological stress involved in having a public feud with Sinbad.

Dolly Parton's self-released new album goes to #2 on the Billboard charts (article doesn't specify, but I assume they mean Country charts). Good for her. I got the album off Amie Street (it's also on eMusic). I liked it. Pop country, but good pop country. "Backwoods Barbie," the title track, lives up to the tradition of songs like "Coat of Many Colors," in depicting the dreams and reality of Dolly's childhood. Some odd choices of covers, like "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Tracks of My Tears." Didn't care for "Better Get to Livin'" but it sounds like the sort of thing that country radio should dig.

I wonder if its successful because of country radio support, or successful despite the lack thereof. Is radio playing the new album? Anyone know where to check airplay numbers?

UPDATE: Now that I've actually read the article linked to in the article I linked to, I see that "Better Get to Livin'" stalled at #52 on the charts. So I guess there's still no room for a 62-year-old country legend on today's country radio.

Chris Wallace defends Obama, creates awkward moment on Fox and Friends. Can't wait to see Colbert's take on this one; apparently Steve Doocy was hurt by the confrontation, but if Wallace upset brown-haired-guy-who's-not-Steve-Doocy, there could be hell to pay on the Report.

UPDATE: The video is here. Oh, and it looks like Colbert is in reruns this week.

In light of last week's incident at the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Times has a look at other Opera mishaps through the ages.

Paul Scofield, dead at 86.

In landmark speech, Gallant distances himself from Goofus.

Having recently updated the featured comic strip panel on the right side of this page with the recent Gil Thorp basketball orgy, I realized I never linked to This Week in Milford's recent selection of the best and worst Gil Thorp panels of 2007. Of course, you'd have seen this if you'd been following the Gil Thorp web community, as you all should be, and if you haven't, then the glory of Gail Martin, the Rock-and-Roll Carol King, is wasted on you.

Me, I'm still bitter about the results, and that "Lock your eyes on one hole, get set and swing and keep doing it" somehow lost in the wacky-assed quotes division.

Arthur C. Clarke, dead at 90.

Anthony Minghella, dead at 54.

I hope you had a happy Saint Patrick's Day yesterday, and that you didn't receive any inappropriate gifts.

Having just learned of the existence of How to Do Nothing With Nobody All Alone By Yourself, I was excited to see that the city library has a copy in storage. Should be fun to check out, until I find a copy of I Was Tortured By the Pygmy Love Queen.

Also found from Weekend Stubble, be sure to check out this flickr gallery of the abandoned Detroit public school system's book depository. It was apparently damaged in a fire and sold in an insurance settlement, leaving the books and school supplies to rot along with the building. The book-phoenix graffiti is a nice touch.

Today is Pi Day. Maybe I'm just a bitter old crank, but I hate Pi Day. Not that I hate March 14th, that would be an odd thing. But I hate people who pretend that Pi Day is interesting. Wow, 3/14, that's the numbers in Pi, let's do stuff. Eat pie, that's crazy. Who cares? It seems like such an affectation, like people who purport to be very concerned with the latest news on Pluto no longer being a planet (if you have a documented interest in astronomy or are under 10, you get a pass on that one--and Randy Newman, your mention of this fact in your latest single does NOT get a pass, sorry). So go ahead and eat pie if you want. But guess what? If you have a few dollars in your pocket and some mode of transportation, you can eat pie whenever you damn well please! Keep Pi Day alive in your heart all year round! Just shut up about it, geez.

Some old man still churning out Marmaduke. Of course, you'd know this if you read the strip, or if you let Joe Mathlete explain it to you. Of course, you'd also know that the actual strip is actually more disturbingly the work of a demented mind than The Onion realizes. I mean, what the hell?

Geraldine Ferraro revealed as a hateful bigot. The surprises of this campaign just keep coming. I mean, Jesus Christ: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position?" "I will not be discriminated against because I'm white?" These are things that a klansman says, not a trailblazing woman's right pioneer.

Anyway, I'd been meaning to say something about my growing disgust with the primary, and my decision that I will not vote for Clinton if she gets the nomination, and this bizarre turn is as good a time as any. I voted for Obama, but came slowly to his side. I thought I would support whoever got the nomination. I never considered voting for Clinton in the primary, because she voted for the war. But so did Kerry, and I voted for him in the '04 general election. Of course, that was an "anyone but Bush" vote, but it set a precedent that would benefit Clinton, that I could vote for someone despite their vote at that one pivotal moment.

But as the primaries went on, and it became obvious that Clinton would have a hard time winning the popular vote, or the elected delegate count, I decided that, if Clinton won the nomination in an anti-democratic matter, I would vote for McCain, for the sake of the long-term health of the Democratic Party (it would be so nice if, for just one election cycle, the Democrats could get their shit together; how come we can only retake Congress when Republicans take bribes or try to bone a page). But as it was all but impossible for Clinton to take the nomination by any way other than superdelegate shenanigans, I wondered if I needed to qualify the statement at all, or if I could simply say, I will not vote for Hillary Clinton? And as her campaign got dirtier and sleazier, it became easier and easier to accept that statement, and I make it now: I will not vote for Hillary Clinton. Ever. For anything.

In a way, it's an easy decision. I feel very strongly about the death penalty, and would be a single-issue voter on that issue alone, if there were actual candidates advancing my position. The problem is, when there are, they're generally long-shots (Kucinich), or empty protests (Nader), which tend to make opposition to the death penalty a fringe issue, at a time when the public is finally turning against the institution. So I've accepted the political reality that I will vote for candidates that support the death penalty, within reason. In fact, the only notable vote I made on the basis of the death penalty was my decision to vote against Bill Clinton's reelection, when I cast my very first vote, ever. Clinton signed off on the execution of Ricky Ray Rector, whom Clinton deemed fit for execution, and capable of understanding what was happening to him, a judgment belied by Rector's decision, eating his final meal, to save his pie for "later." Clinton had no qualms killing a man, in our name, to prevent himself from being "Willie Horton-ed" going into the New Hampshire primary. I could not in good conscious vote for this man.

And now his wife is running, who lobbied hard as first lady for her husband's crime bill, which expanded the death penalty. Combine that with her willingness to say and do anything to win (Bill Clinton cabinet member Robert Reich has expressed shock that she would actually suggest that her Republican rival is more qualified to be President than the current Democratic front-runner), and I can't help but think that the Democratic Party, and democracy itself, is better off with Hillary Clinton as far removed as possible. Obama is now the rightful Democratic nominee, and Clinton's dirty campaigning shows her to be as concerned with the health of the Democratic Party as Joe Lieberman is. Go away, Hillary.

Two points, in fairness to Hillary: First, Barack Obama is for the death penalty. Again, I have come to terms with the notion of voting for death penalty proponents, as long as, unlike Bill Clinton, they're not untowardly bloodthirsty about it. And second, the Democrat primary rules are fucked up, and that's not Clinton's fault. Doesn't let her off the hook for exploiting them to keep her doomed campaign alive, but still, something needs to be changed. That Democrats deploy both superdelegates and proportional representation in the primary process is beyond absurd; proportional representation heightens the democratic nature of candidate selection, while superdelegates stand against the popular will. You pick one or the other. By using both, the Democratic Party guarantees, once there's a close primary, all hell breaks loose. Which is another reason not to vote for Clinton: If she's President, no way in hell is she letting them change that process on her watch.

Employees beware: You can legally be fired for demanding prostitutes. Especially if you answer the door in the nude.

Bombing of New York military recruitment center, letters showing same military recruitment center with a sign saying "We did it" a big coincidence. I think it would make the police's job much easier if they would simply decide that the world is full of coincidences.

I got to wondering, though I was pretty sure it wasn't, if it was possible that this was the military induction center from the song "Alice's Restaurant." Turns out that building was itself bombed in 1969.

Gary Gygax, dead at 69.

UPDATE: Penny Arcade chimes in with the mot juste.

The Onion AV Club reports that Lou Pearlman's possessions are for sale on eBay. Feel free to shop early for my birthday.

Incidentally, if I were morbidly obese (not there yet, give me a year or two), I don't think I would collect blimps. Just seems like asking to be ridiculed.

Paul Collins on the most recent plagiarism scandal unearthed by Google. Collins marvels at the speed with which things unfolded; the author of the original blog post which broke the story also was impressed by the speed, but notes that chance helped things along. Both Goeglein and the source he stole from misspelled Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy's name, which is what kept the original article from being buried deep in Google search results.

A Change in Scenery's movie theater photo stream. Good stuff.

In related news, apparently the Balboa Theatre has reopened in Horton Plaza. I'm looking forward to checking it out; too bad I see nothing of note on the schedule, having already missed Hal Holbrook's Mark Twain Tonight.

Science fair photo bonanza. That post was inspired by this collection of science fair photos, but I enjoyed Beware of the Blog's focus on freaky kids over odd projects. If I had to pick a favorite, "Garlic: The Silent Killer" narrowly beats out "Are you my mother?"

Art Madrid, my esteemed mayor, a big stinking drunk. Police found him collapsed on a sidewalk near a puddle of his own vomit, and decided to take him home rather than cite him. A city employee less than half his age was also intoxicated, and in the driver's seat of a car with the engine running. She also was not arrested. The city council had a special session to discuss allegations of special treatment; my favorite revelation from the meeting (shown on public access television) was that the night Madrid chose to get liquored up and ride shotgun with a drunk, he was a no-show at a traffic safety meeting he was scheduled to attend in that very neighborhood.

Sweeney Todd NOT coming out in HD DVD. God damn it. I actually found myself interested in buying more HD DVDs since Toshiba officially killed off HD DVD than I was when the format was viable. Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood, and possibly Into the Wild, if I could find it cheap. But two of the three aren't happening, and I think I'll be fine with renting Into the Wild. I'll just have to be content with my bootleg of Sweeney Todd; if they want to announce an HD DVD release, only to abandon it, and instead keep company with Blu-Ray, I suggest they service them well and hold their custom, for they'll have none of mine.

William F. Buckley, Jr., dead at 82.

NOTE: This video will make absolutely no sense if you've never seen There Will Be Blood. I would say it contains spoilers, but since it won't make sense, you can probably watch it.

Goes on too long and other Oscar movies are shoehorned in awkwardly, but it's still pretty good. What puts it over the top, for me, is that a vast majority of the audience will have no idea what they are talking about. I imagine the standard reaction of the uninitiated would be, "That's just bizarre...I don't know too much about the movie, but one thing I'm pretty sure of, the movie doesn't end with Daniel Day-Lewis screaming about milkshakes." And those people would be wrong, so very wrong.

Oscar-time is again upon us, and for once I've seen all five films nominated for best picture. AMC screened all five movies back-to-back, and for thirty dollars you could see all three, and get all the popcorn you could eat. They've done this for the last couple years, but this was the first year I've actually wanted to see all five best picture nominees, so I decided to give it a shot. It was a bit grueling, watching movies for twelve straight hours (I was in the second row--the theater was completely full--and my neck was straining and my back sore by the end), but it was a credit to all five films that time never really seemed to drag. There Will Be Blood, in particular, did not at all feel like two hours and forty minutes.

The ceremonies start rather soon, so I'll just provide some quick impressions, so that my opinion might reach the Hollywood community in time (I know they were quite worried as to my opinion). Michael Clayton was excellent, and if Tom Wilkinson doesn't win Best Supporting Actor, I must be confused about just what a supporting actor is (in fairness, I haven't seen Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild, and I'm sure he's good, too). There Will Be Blood was also excellent, not really what I expected, though it struck me as the sort of thing I needed time to mull over, not well-suited to a day of binge viewing. The final act was a bit strange, but helped put things into some context, I'd like to see the film again knowing the characters' fate. Atonement was a surprise; I didn't like the book, but the movie wasn't bad. I suppose I didn't like the book because I didn't really care enough about the characters to make the arduous effort of reading worth-while; the movie, in contrast, went down easy enough that getting the payoff at the end was palatable. Still, though, I found myself spending much of my time during the movie thinking about other similar movies I'd rather be watching (I do need to see The Remains of the Day again sometime). Juno was the only film of the lot that I didn't like. Nor did I hate it, I just found it a little ball of nothing that I didn't care much about. It seemed like something that should of come from the Sundance Film Festival around 1998 or so. A dated movie in subject matter and sensibility, trying to make up for it with a faux-Gilmore Girls wit. A few funny lines, but you've already heard them, most likely ("makes his junk smell like pie," for instance, is funny enough to warrant a call-back).

And that just leaves No Country for Old Men. It's by the Coen Brothers, and thus automatically deserves consideration (the audience seemed unwilling to consider the ending; at the final fade to black, the film was met with jeers and "What the Hell?"s). Honestly, while aspects of the ending bothered me, I'm willing to accept that. The film's conclusion is in keeping with the film's themes of nihilism, chance, and impotence. If anything, the ended was rather heavy-handedly foreshadowed, with the bookending coin-flip discussions. So I don't think a different ending would have satisfied critics, and I imagine most of them wouldn't argue the point. For me, a bigger flaw than the ending was the one-damn-thing-after-another plot progression. Just Bardem hunting Brolin for two hours. Which isn't the worst thing in the world. It actually probably would have been better if that dynamic had been kept pure, but of course Tommy Lee Jones' sherrif was integral to the themes addressed. The point of Woody Harrelson's character? I have no idea. But he had a conversation with Stephen Root; anything giving Stephen Root screen time is a good thing.

Ultimately, I was disappointed in No County for Old Men. Probably not a big shock to me, as I didn't like Fargo, and this covers similar ground. But it's not just a Southwestern Fargo, more like the anti-Fargo, with Tommy Lee Jones as an ineffectual Frances McDormond. In any event, not quite my cup of tea, though it held my interest and gave me some food for thought.

My final verdict, having seen the five films: Sweeney Todd should be the winner, but of the five nominated films, I give it to There Will Be Blood. (as for actual predictions, I have a gut feeling there might be an Atonement upset tonight)

UPDATE: Nothing against Javier Bardem, he was excellent. I just don't think he should have won for supporting actor, because he was the fucking star of the movie, no? But whatever, good for him. And good for the Coen Brothers, they deserved the recognition. Just wish it was for a film I liked better (The Hudsucker Proxy should have swept the Oscars).

No Depression magazine to fold. I let my subscription lapse six months or so ago, so clearly am solely to blame (actually, they say sales and subscriptions were fine, and that the changing economics of the indie music scene are mainly to blame). The editors were on NPR to talk about the decision. Sad, sad news.

Reading of "Luann" musical this Monday in Carlsbad. I thought of attending, until I saw it was way up in Carlsbad. Just don't care enough about the comic, one way or the other, to cancel my plans and make the drive. I would drive into the gaping maw of Hell for "Get Fuzzy" or "Mary Worth" musicals, for different reasons, but "Luann" doesn't really fire up the passions.

Samples from the musical soundtrack CD are available from CD Baby, which suggest the musical is far more epically craptacular than the perfectly serviceable comic strip. Just listen to "Aaron Hill," and picture Michael Hitchcock's character from Waiting for Guffman quietly weeping in the audience:

As long-time readers have no doubt noticed, I'm rather fond of the semicolon. So I ask you, where's my New York Times profile?

In case you were wondering, yes, I did deliberately avoid using a semicolon in this post; were I to misuse a semicolon while discussing said mark of punctuation, it would be too much for me to bear.

As I mentioned their last article yesterday, I'll mention now that Ars Technica has a follow-up to their HD DVD article, basically a reminder that there's no official announcement, and an explanation as to why there's not yet an official announcement. Basically, as they suggested in the previous article, they report from their sources that Toshiba hoped to milk the market as long as they could, selling off their existing stock before making an announcement. But now, the thinking goes, that's no longer possible, with the motion picture and consumer electronics industries rapidly abandoning HD DVD. I don't entirely agree that they can't salvage a few bucks off of HD DVD. I don't really know the economics of the matter, but if the factories are already retrofitted for producing HD DVDs, I would imagine that this sunk cost is the primary expense, and that the cost of actually manufacturing the discs is trivial by comparison. Over a million HD DVD players were sold, it seems like catering to that market could offer some opportunity for profit, for a few more months, at least. But again, I don't really know the economics of making an HD DVD, nor the opportunity costs lost by not converting the factories to something more profitable. And considering I only plan on buying one more HD DVD, should Sweeney Todd still come out in the format, maybe other HD DVD owners aren't really in a buying mood (I did recently picked up The Sting, Shaun of the Dead, and a third title I'm not remembering at fire sale prices).

It will be interesting to see how long it takes HD DVD to finally die. As an owner, I hope it takes awhile. I'm not counting on any new releases more than a month out or so, but I don't know how far in advance they manufacture discs...anyone know?

I mentioned Monday that things weren't looking good for HD DVD. I figured things would drag out for a few months, but apparently, if the buzz about the intertubes is to be believed, HD DVD's demise is imminent. Nothing official out of Toshiba, but Reuters and others seem to have things pretty much confirmed. Ars Technica is usually pretty on the ball; they offer some details about the accelerating death of HD DVD. Apparently Toshiba already made the decision to kill off HD DVD even before this week's bad news, but was looking to gradually exit the business and sell off excess inventory. But apparently Netflix and Wal-Mart were aware of this plan, and decided to speed things up on their own, to prevent customers from being burned, and have forced Toshiba to speed things up. So it looks like Netflix did the right thing in dropping HD DVD.

Sadly, it now looks unlikely that I'll be buying Sweeney Todd in HD DVD. Good ol' DVD will be good enough, I suppose. Besides, I managed to download an awards screener of Sweeney Todd off of BitTorrent last night (downloaded in less than an hour). Good enough quality to keep me satisfied for awhile (though again, I can't seem to make it play on my Xbox, and thus my TV).

Uno becomes first beagle to win Westminster. I'm trying to keep Tanner from seeing the coverage; Uno propagates an idealized standard of beauty shlubs like Tanner can't possibly obtain.

Dolly Parton postpones tour, blames breasts.

As I just mentioned in my last post, I am looking forward to the digital distribution of media reaching critical mass. But while I wait, I've been making inroads into controlling my media library on my computer. I recently purchased a 1TB external hard drive, and have begun digitizing my movie collection for use on my iPhone and elsewhere.

For those who haven't tried this, I should mention that it's not like ripping a CD in iTunes. The conversion process takes time; on my old clunker of a computer, it takes almost twice as long go convert a movie into H.264 as it does to watch it. So for the most part, I've just been converting one movie at a time, overnight. And sometimes Handbrake (the program I'm using for the task) freezes up in the process, and I have to start over (again, I have an old computer ill-suited for such modern tasks). So it's a somewhat frustrating task. But the end result is well worth it. I've been impressed with the visual quality of the final product, and especially the audio quality. I digitized some concert DVDs; since I've always found music on DVD to be inconvenient, I rarely watch my music video DVDs, so I figured putting them on my iPhone would breathe new life into them. They look good, but the audio fidelity was what really surprised me, sounding as good as anything probably can on the standard iPhone headphones.

So I've been happy with the results of my digitization project. Trying to get the videos onto my TV has been more frustrating. I have an Xbox 360, and so should be able to stream media via Windows Media Player 11. But despite setting everything up correctly, my Xbox 360 couldn't recognize my computer. After much tinkering, I gave up. But last night, I wanted to watch MST3K while playing poker online, so I wanted to get the show off my computer and onto the TV. So I decided to take another stab at getting WMP 11 to work with my Xbox 360. But upon booting up the software and the Xbox, I found it was now working fine. So all I had to do was set up the WMP library, and I'd be all set. Unfortunately, WMP sucks ass, so it was another two hours or so before I finally got the library under control. But I was watching MST3K on my TV (not playing poker, as Poker Stars turned out to be having issues with sit-and-go tourneys).

So far, so good. But the program I was watching was an, um, archival copy found online, in Divx. WMP didn't have a problem with that. But I'm creating my library in H.264, since that's what the iPhone plays nice with. WMP doesn't natively support the format, but plug-ins are readily available to permit playback. But even with the plug-in, you can't add H.264 files to the WMP library. I've found workarounds online, but one seems rather cumbersome, requiring multiple programs and modifications to the registry, and the other being simpler, but consisting of merely changing the file extension, which would interfere with iTunes, which is where I primarily use the files.

So I've given up on streaming H.264 files to my Xbox 360. When I want to watch a movie in that format, I'll just copy it to my portable USB hard drive, and plug that into my Xbox. Should work fine, but from past experience, I expect some glitch to arise.

So what's my point? Mainly, I'm just bitching that Microsoft seems to make this harder than it need be. But also, I wanted to point out that, even when a company like Microsoft gets their device in the home, through something like the Xbox 360, which doubles as a trojan horse for a Windows Media Extender, getting video onto a TV through these devices is too difficult for the general public, and far from mainstream. Which might be good news for Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace, but is bad news for the overall adoption of digital video.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I bought the HD DVD add-on to the Xbox 360, about six months or so ago. Even at the time, it was clear that Blu-Ray was winning the format war, but the add-on was reasonably priced, having just received a price cut, I had a coupon on top of that, the add-on came with King Kong, and a mail-in rebate offered five free movies. Not the best HD DVD movies available, but either movies I liked, but doubted would benefit from the HD treatment (Casablanca, Blazing Saddles), or movies that should look good, but that I didn't really care about (The Perfect Storm). But the free movies were just enough to make the drive look like a good deal. Especially after taking a look at Netflix, and seeing that they had plenty of HD DVDs for rent.

Overall, I've been happy with the drive. The first HD DVD I watched, other than sampling a bit of King Kong, was the BBC documentary Planet Earth, which was absolutely incredible, and which I almost immediately purchased. So far, that is one of only two HD DVDs I have purchased. The other, Batman Begins, I already owned on DVD, and overall it left me a bit underwhelmed. Standard DVDs look good enough on an HDTV with an upscaling player, for my tastes. So I don't think I'd rebuy DVDs I own in HD DVD (even if the format were not in its death throes).

So, owning the HD DVD add-on, you might imagine I have not been happy to see the recent developments in the format wars. For those not paying attention, HD DVD is getting its clock cleaned pretty well. But I took comfort in one thing: There are still plenty of HD DVDs I want to see available from Netflix. Now it appears that Netflix is abandoning me, too. Now, details are vague, so I don't know if this means Netflix is dropping HD DVD from their inventory, or simply forgoing the purchase of any more HD DVDs. If it's the latter, I'll cope. But if they remove HD DVD from their back catalog, I think I may become an ex-Netflix subscriber. I've been wondering if the public library could handle my DVD needs, and while their selection lags Netflix considerably, I could probably get by, supplementing their offerings with digital vendors (Xbox Live Marketplace, iTunes), piracy, and maybe even the good old-fashioned video store (I miss Kensington Video, and I'm sure they miss me). Or, you know, I could watch the hundreds of unwatched DVDs I've hoarded over the years. In any case, the availability of HD DVD is the main factor that has led me to overlook the fact that I haven't been getting a great value out of Netflix lately (only going through 3-4 films a month or so), and if they're no longer available, I'll probably get my fix elsewhere.

The seeming failure of HD DVD leads one to wonder if I'll purchase a Blu-Ray player. Doubtful. I'd rather watch HD than SD programming, and HD media looks better than standard DVDs, but standard DVDs still look pretty good on an HDTV. So, having spent time with an HD DVD player, while it looks good (especially for nature documentaries), it's not worth a substantial capital investment, in my opinion. Though I have a relatively small HDTV; if you're plunking down a chunk of change on a home theater, a few hundred dollars more for Blu-Ray might be worth it. But for me, I'll wait for digital distribution of HD content to go mainstream.

I'll close with one bit of good news for me on the HD DVD front: Sweeney Todd comes to HD DVD April 1.

Black cartoonists run their own versions of the same strip, to protest the idea that there is one monolithic thing called black cartoons. I read the K Chronicles strip, but since I don't read the other strips, I didn't realize it was part of a movement, until I saw Gadzooky's C.C. post with links to the various strips. Of course, given their point that newspapers are reluctant to run multiple "black" strips, the casual reader can be forgiven for not realizing that this was going on, but then I suppose the ultimate point was to raise media awareness.

I'm sick again. Just a cold. But it's annoying, I've been sick a hell of a lot lately. Had the flu for pretty much all of November. Then food poisoning over New Year's. This cold isn't too bad, but it's still pretty nasty, as colds go. I thought I would go to work today, but I'm glad I didn't; slept in 'til well past noon, and still feel like a zombie.

I was supposed to go to L.A. yesterday with my mom for her birthday, but too sick, so that will have to wait until next weekend. Given the weather, that's probably for the best.

Last.fm offering free streaming of music from all major labels, and a good selection of indies. I'm a fan of Last.fm, more from the statistical side, enjoying the various lists the site accumulates tracking my listening habits (you can see my weekly top ten lists on the right-hand side of this blog, or see my full profile). I really haven't been using the music streaming options they offer recently, even though they've improved over the years, primarily because the speakers on my computer at work suck too much to make listening to music rewarding, and at home, I have access to my entire music library, so who needs internet radio? But this announcement will likely encourage me to spend more time on the site.

Basically, anyone can stream any song available three times. No need to register/log-in, as a cookie on your computer tracks the plays (so, three plays at home, three plays at work, three more plays when you delete the last.fm cookie). After the three plays, you can still hear the song just like you could before on last.fm, by including it on a playlist for a customized radio station (the songs play in a random order, so no on-demand satisfaction, but since this mimics the iPod's shuffle play, it is a style of music listening I and most people are familiar with in this digital age). This is a bit more restrictive than Imeem, for instance, but last.fm has a quality catalog of good-quality mp3s uploaded directly by the label or artist (unsigned artists can upload their own songs and get paid), while Imeem relies on user-uploaded content, which has caused me problems in the past. Also, last.fm seems to have a better relationship with indie labels.

Last.fm's new service is up now, and my very brief exploration of the site was satisfactory. Things look pretty much the same, but much more music is marked as available for streaming than was the last time I visited. Out of my top ten artists, seven are available for full-length streaming (the other three are only available as thirty-second samples, which I believe means I can still hear the full tracks as part of internet radio playlists). Seven of my top eleven tracks (there's a tie for tenth place) are fully playable, and one more is available as a sample, meaning three tracks aren't available in any form. The first song I listened to, however, revealed that things aren't quite as nice as they first appeared. Robbie Fulks' "She Took a Lot of Pills (and Died)" is available, but the version is from a live performance (not his recent live album, which made my top ten of 2007 list, but a random concert available on eMusic), which was disappointing. Better than nothing, but it makes me wonder if a quick glance at the percentage of songs available may overstate how many top-quality albums are available. This problem is exacerbated by the site's focus on singles over albums; all listens to a song by the same artist are lumped together, regardless of the album. So when you look at, say, Johnny Cash's page, lots of songs are available, but you don't know what you're getting until you click. This is hardly a deal-breaker, but it would be nice to be able to choose between hearing, say, "Folsom Prison Blues" recorded at Sun Records or "Folsom Prison Blues" recorded at Folsom Prison.

I'm sure I'll be playing around with last.fm some more in the near future. There's plenty of room for improvement in their catalog, but I'm satisfied enough at first glance that I doubt I'll be going back to Imeem.

John Stewart, dead at 68. He was originally from San Diego, and while he no longer lived here, he died in San Diego working on a new album. He performed house concerts in San Diego fairly regularly, but I never made it out to see him live.

Suzanne Pleshette, dead at 70.

Allan Melvin, AKA Sam the Butcher, dead at 84. He was also the voice of Magilla Gorilla, and appeared on many, many shows. A video tribute can be found here.

So, like last year, I've been dragging my feet on my best-of music list, until I was damn sure no one would still be interesting in such nonsense. But I'm gonna crank this out tonight. In coming up with nominations for the list, I realized 2007 just wasn't that great a year for new releases. A good year for music, for me at least, making some discoveries from the vaults ("Will to Fail" has become my theme song--I was shocked just now to discover I never linked to it), but even coming up with ten albums from 2007 I could get excited about was a challenge. But going over the releases, and remembering some albums I'd forgotten about, things ultimately started looking up, and I was able to come up with a respectable top-ten list, with some decent albums not making the cut (sorry, Lyle Lovett):

#1: Porter Wagoner, Wagonmaster So apparently it will be a tradition that my best-of year-end list will be topped by a dead country legend. Which is fine, as so far they have richly deserved their placement. And for the record, Wagoner was very much alive when I praised the album effusively. I can't really add to that much, except to say, in light of his passing, the album encapsulated his career in the most positive light possible. A fitting coda to a legend among legends.

#2: Pink Martini, Hey, Eugene! Pink Martini's third album suggests they have arrived as an institution, which actually makes the arrival of new material not the earth-shattering news that Hang On Little Tomato was. But still, there's very little not to love here, and Jimmy Scott's guest appearance on "Tea For Two" just makes things that much more magical.

#3: Jon Rauhouse, Steel Guitar Heart Attack The most fun I had with a country album all year. Laid-back western swing, reworked classics and new material. And who knew the theme from The Andy Griffith Show had words?

#4: The Greencards, Viridian Absolutely beautiful bluegrass. The Greencards' output has been so consistent, it's easy to get complacent and forget just how lucky the world is to have an album like this.

#5: Los Straitjackets, Rock en Espanol, Vol. 1 Oddly compelling. It's Los Straitjackets, so of course this is going to be a good album, and the addition of guest artists providing Spanish vocals to cover songs of Anglo hits is a perfect fit to the band. So that I enjoyed the album isn't a surprise, but I was taken aback by just how ingratiating tracks like Little Willie G's take on "Ana" (AKA "Go To Him") are here, and how this turned out to be a much more substantial album than I expected. While still being as fun as any Los Straitjackets album. This could be my favorite Los Straitjackets album.

#6: Detroit Cobras, Tied and True Unlike Los Straitjackets, this album does not transcend the expectations one has for the Detroit Cobras. But that's fine. The rough edges are a bit smoothed out here, but overall it's exactly what we've come to expect from the band, and I for one am glad to have it.

#7: Nellie McKay, Obligatory Villagers Nellie McKay has produced an album here perfectly suited to her sound and attitude. Theatrical and witty, her technical mastery and clever songsmithing (is that a word?) are on full display, and her flaws are somewhat obscured. Sure to please her fans, and keep as fans those of us who found ourself wobbling in her support.

#8: Project: Pimento, Space Age Love Songs It's been four years since their last album, and while Space Age Love Songs isn't as earth-moving as Magical Moods of the Theremin, it does essentially double the number of theremin-based lounge music albums available, which is a good thing.

#9: Robbie Fulks, Revenge The last time Robbie Fulks performed in Southern California, I had other commitments, so I have yet to see him live, but now I have a live album. Live albums aren't the most exciting things, but there is a bit of strong new material, and lots of his classic songs, in both electric and acoustic sets.

#10: Various Artists, Song of America Filling in the last slot was difficult: Lots of albums vied for contention, all notable, but none strong enough for me to expand the list beyond ten places. Lyle Lovett and John Prine both had new albums this year, and I feel bad leaving them off; but while neither was bad, neither particularly grabbed my interest, either, and including them in this list would have felt like an act of pity. Song of America, a boxed-set collection of iconic songs from throughout American history, is certainly hit-or-miss, but the best songs of the bunch are more than enough to encourage me to overlook a few stinkers. Certainly a notable release for the year, and if, like me, you enjoyed Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster, I think you'll find a lot to like here, too.

Well, I've been working on this list for about a week, but I think I've found a list I can formally endorse. The top ten of 2007: If it's not here, it's garbage.

I was going to add an Imeem playlist here, but virtually none of these albums are streamable there. They have deals with all four major labels, but the indie situation isn't as bright. Either that, or their filtering software sucks; I noticed recently uploaded songs by Sara Bareilles, for instance, don't stream, claiming they don't have a deal with her label, when I know for a fact they do. Anyway, if you want to hear the albums on my list, I'm sure you know of a way to do so, so good luck with that.

Bobby Fischer, dead at 64.

Steve Job's MacWorld keynote address was today. This is the speech where he rolls out new products; last year, it was the iPhone. Rumors had this year's speech announcing movie rentals on iTunes, an updated Apple TV, a new ultra-light laptop, and possibly an updated iPhone. So when I got up this morning and started reading the liveblogging of the event, I wasn't too surprised to read about movie rentals on iTunes, an updated Apple TV, a new ultra-light laptop, and an update to the iPhone's software. The video of the speech isn't up yet, so I haven't taken in every detail, but about the only surprise for me in those announcements was that every major studio is on board with the movie rental store, with new arrivals due one month after the DVD release (and presumably several months after the pirated digital release). Prices weren't too out of line, $2.99 for back catalog, $3.99 for new releases, and an extra dollar for HD releases. Cheaper than Xbox Live Marketplace, especially for HD content (I refuse to rent a movie for $6), but I'll probably stick with Netflix (even though I often go two or three weeks without watching a Netflix movie, which makes the monthly fee difficult to justify, until a month comes where I go nuts with movie watching). But the fact that all the major studios are involved suggests they may finally be serious about pursuing new digital distribution models (an iTunes subscription model for movies would be very interesting to see).

So anyways, the announcements were made, it looked like things were wrapping up, and I was a bit disappointed by the lack of surprises. Certainly nothing to compete with last year's iPhone announcement. That's when the announced the closing musical entertainment, Randy Newman. I was half-convinced Steve Jobs was just fucking with me: "Not surprised, huh? How's this for surprising?" Or was the speech simply tailored to every observer, and Randy Newman is whom Steve Jobs knew could sell me a $1500 laptop? In any case, I was glad to see him there. I was especially surprised that he sang his latest single, "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country," which hardly strikes one as an effective jingle. But I was very excited, and this assures that I will be downloading the video of the speech when Apple puts it up. And it was nice that non-Newman fans were exposed to a side of him besides his Pixar stuff. He did sing "You Got a Friend in Me," but prefaced it with his Toy Story shtick that he uses in concert. Certainly made an impression on Gizmodo's livebloggers:

Jason Chen:
Aaaand it’s over. Holy crap. Who knew Randy Newman, the guy who makes the songs your kids play over and over and over again, would sing such crazy crap about our government?
10:41 am ON Jan 15 2008

Jason Chen:
The first song’s over, but now Randy Newman’s just riffing about random stuff. The next song is from Toy Story. Randy says he wrote another song to go with the love scene between Buzz and Woody, but the scene was cut. This guy is blowing our minds right now.
10:39 am ON Jan 15 2008

Jason Chen:
“It pisses me off a little that the Supreme Court is going to outlive me.” What the crap is he singing about? We have no idea. We think he’s gone nuts.
10:36 am ON Jan 15 2008

Jason Chen:
Randy’s singing a song about America, the president, and comparing them to Hitler and Stalin. USA! USA! USA!!!!!
10:34 am ON Jan 15 2008

I would point out that our present leadership is compared favorably to Hitler and Stalin (faint praise, of course). Anyway, always nice for audiences to be exposed to the full scope of Newman's talent (though I think "The World Isn't Fair" might have spoken to more of the audience).

I'm downloading the new iPhone firmware as I write this (just managed to connect to the update server after many, many tries); perhaps I will write about the new features (and my general satisfaction with the phone) in the near future.

UPDATE: Video is up. Newman did a fine job. I mentioned his Toy Story routine; he didn't do that here, just made a one-off joke about Buzz and Woody's love scene.

I was only vaguely aware of the existence of The Bucket List, but was still enthralled with Roger Ebert's must-read review:

The movie, directed by Rob Reiner, was written by Justin Zackham, who must be very optimistic indeed if he doesn't know that there is nothing like a serious illness to bring you to the end of sitcom cliches. I've never had chemo, as Edward and Carter must endure, but I have had cancer, and believe me, during convalescence after surgery the last item on your bucket list is climbing a Himalaya. Your list is more likely to be topped by keeping down a full meal, having a triumphant bowel movement, keeping your energy up in the afternoon, letting your loved ones know you love them, and convincing the doc your reports of pain are real and not merely disguising your desire to become a drug addict. To be sure, the movie includes plenty of details about discomfort in the toilet, but they're put on hold once the trots are replaced by the globe-trotting.

A belated Merry Christmas to you all. I hope you got all you wanted. I was blessed with food poisoning, myself, from some bad shellfish from a Chinese buffet, I believe. Fun times. Gradually recovering, but expect to develop a close relationship with soup over the next few days (a step above projectile-spewing clear liquids within ten minutes of consumption).

A brief note on my own self-centeredness: I drug myself out of bed, tried to watch some TV, and saw the news about Bhutto being assassinated. My reaction was disappointment that I was too sick to stay out of bed, and wouldn't be able to follow the news live. Why does everything happen to me? (I was up long enough to be disgusted that the news channels seemed to have a hard time deciding if a political assassination should cut away from there round-the-clock coverage of the tiger mauling, though)

When I was in high school, a junior, if memory serves, I was watching T.V. one evening, when I flipped by Bravo and stopped to watch a bit of a musical they were showing. That musical was Sweeney Todd, and while I'd missed most of the first half, I very quickly found myself fixated on this show, which was not quite like anything I'd ever seen before. They reran it later that day, in the dark of night, and I taped it, so that I could ultimately watch it more than I have probably watched just about anything else. It was a filmed performance of the Broadway show, with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury, which apparently originally aired on PBS in 1982. I suppose what first grabbed me about the musical was the macabre subject matter and pitch-black take on human nature (well, okay, what FIRST got my attention was Lansbury--"So, just WHAT is the Murder, She Wrote lady putting into that pie?!"). And the music was absolutely fantastic, with an operatic scope, alternating between the beautiful and the visceral, and really put to shame the Broadway smashes with which I was more familiar (I used to love Les Miserables; the last time I listened to it, I was embarrassed for us both). And Sondheim's wit provided just enough of a safe space to keep the show from crushing me.

There was a lot artistically in Sweeney Todd to appeal to me. But I think my obsession with the show was also because I came to think of it as mine. I think sometimes an individual comes across a cultural artifact, so different from the media with which they are familiar, that they virtually fetishize the product, develop an obsession with it, as I did, partly due to its merits, and partly just to celebrate the serendipity by which this item was discovered, and one's horizons were widened (hope that's not too pretentious; I'm not quite sure how to say what I mean here). I'd stumbled upon it unawares, I'd never heard of it (I'd only barely heard of Sondheim), and my friends had never heard of it. And now I wanted it to become a fixture in my life. For close to two years, I watched it virtually daily. Not always in its entirety, but at least substantial segments--"Pretty Girls" through to "A Little Priest," say, or possibly through to Sweeney's version of "Johanna" (I would often just play that song over and over and over again). Most nights before I went to bed, that's what I watched. (It made me question my sanity--It can't be normal to watch the same thing this often, I would fret to myself) In college, the frequency diminished, but it was some time before the tradition died, and still I knew it wouldn't be long before I returned, for weeks, sometimes months, of obsessive viewing. There are other musicals (Urinetown, for instance) I love, but Sweeney Todd's special place in my psyche is, I feel it safe to say, permanent and unique.

So as you might imagine, news of a Sweeney Todd movie was difficult for me to deal with. Tim Burton presenting Sweeney Todd sounded like nothing short of perfect. But things can go wrong, and the thought of a bad Sweeney Todd movie was too much to bear. And even a good Sweeney Todd movie wouldn't be my Sweeney Todd movie. I had come to think of the Lansbury/Hearn Sweeney Todd as the definitive version, and feared change. The Broadway cast album featured Len Cariou as Sweeney, which was a great disappointment on first listen (he's grown on me, but I prefer Hearn's manic rendition better). I'd seen several stage productions, including the fantastic version hosted by the Sledgehammer Theatre, which I saw several times during its two different runs, but even as I acknowledge the talented local actor from that production is quite possibly the best Sweeney I've ever seen, seeing this and any other production only sent me back to the familiarity of my original cassette, or now the commercially-available DVD. I realize part of the point of live theater is that things can evolve and be reinterpreted, but a movie would require much more substantial changes and adaptations. Then there was the whole thing about casting Johnny Depp as Sweeney. That did nothing to diminish by unease.

So as the movie approached, I avoided media coverage of the film. I never saw the trailer, and thanks to my DVR and the writer's strike, only saw the commercial a handful of times; it confirmed that the look and feel of the film rang true, but didn't show enough to pass judgement (Depp never sang). So when I saw the reviews coming in yesterday, it all seemed rather sudden. Much like Christmas really snuck up me this year, I found myself asking myself, Is it really time for me to confront the Sweeney Todd movie? It was, and this afternoon, I did.

And I loved it. Really loved it. Despite its flaws, and yes, it is most certainly flawed. But they got so much right. Yes, it's different than the show I know by heart, but film is a different medium, different enough that I can appreciate it on its own merits. I'll never make the film a part of my life like I did the televised stage rendition, but I still imagine the movie DVD will be played a fair amount when it comes out.

Let's start with what I didn't like. They could have done better than Helena Bonham Carter. By the conclusion of "The Worst Pies in London," I was half-convinced she was going to single-handedly sink the production. She grew on me, and in retrospect I think part of the problem was that the humor of the first song might not work as well on film, requiring the exaggerated acting and audience interaction of live theater. But still, I found her a bit disappointing; she always seemed to be trying so hard when she was singing. Clearly singing is not within her comfort zone. Kudos for trying, and she makes it work, but I think they could have found someone with more musical experience, who could have moved beyond "making it work." But if there was one odd casting choice, it was for the role of Tobias. Newcomer Ed Sanders is fine, but he is a child, looking like he came straight from the cast of Oliver! Tobias is a simple-minded man-child, not an actual child. When he first emerges from Pirelli's wagon, I was in shock. But as the film goes on, and I see how they've changed the role to reflect his age, I thought it was an inspired change, highlighting the class issues that are a sub-theme of the show. But as I started thinking ahead, knowing where the story was going, I realized it wouldn't work. And it doesn't work. It doesn't work at all. I can't say why without spoiling things, so I won't. But it doesn't work.

Lots of changes involving moving, shortening, or cutting songs. "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd," which bookends the musical and provides narrative throughout, was cut. Probably a wise choice, mostly. I'm reluctant to discuss the ending (and by ending, I mean final seconds), but lets just say I wished they found something to replace the final reprise of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" with. The Johanna/Anthony storyline is streamlined, their songs truncated or dropped and told instead with more filmic techniques. This I whole-heartedly support; getting through their romance always felt like a chore, and giving Alan Rickman more room to expand on his evil character is a wise approach to the material. The beginning of the second act is shuffled around a bit, with a trimmed "God, that's Good" coming after "Johanna." My main complaint with the songs being trimmed was that "A Little Priest" was quite truncated. Which was probably a necessity. But instead of cutting out some of the career puns (well, they actually did that, too), they cut out the verses that highlight the economic themes and concerns with the class struggle which undergird the story. How do you cut verses like:

The history of the world, my love
Is those below serving those up above!
How gratifying for once to know
That those above will serve those down below!

or: the verse:

The history of the world, my sweet
Is who gets eaten and who gets to eat!
But fortunately it's also clear
That everybody goes down well with beer!

Good stuff. [edit: Oops, on subsequent viewing, I realized I misremembered; the first verse quoted was in the movie. Mea maxima culpa.] So I was sad that was gone. And the whole song doesn't work too well on screen, apparently because they felt that we just couldn't understand what they were talking about unless they showed a member of every profession just as it was mentioned in the song, which just made things feel awkward (and was it just me, or did the fop look more like a pimp).

Anyway, that gets my complaining pretty much taken care of (I intend to see it again Christmas day with my sister and brother-in-law, and I'm sure I'll find more nits to pick). It probably won't take up as much space to say what I like, because it doesn't take much time to say: Wonderful! The look of the film, the sets, the costumes, the cinematography, the blood, all was perfect. By the end of the opening credits, I was already highly impressed. The black-and-white world of Victorian London, sprayed with arterial blood, or the washed-out colors of Mrs. Lovett's fantasy (the existence of a Sweeney Todd movie is completely justified just on the basis of Burton's take on "By the Sea"). A soaring orchestral score, giving Sondheim's music the majesty it deserves. Sasha Baron Cohen as Pirelli, Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin, and Timothy Spall as Beadle Bamford are all inspired choices. And yes, even Johnny Depp as Sweeney works excellently. Within the first twenty minutes, I had forgot my misgivings, only to briefly remember them during "Epiphany" (he can't quite pull it off, but comes close enough to get by). But I'm sure, whatever is lost briefly in one song is more than made up for by the value of the Depp-Burton collaboration.

I am just so happy I enjoyed this movie. I really feared today's trip to the movies would be a soul-crushing experience. But providence is kind, and the film Sweeney Todd is just as tasty as one of Mrs. Lovett's meat pies (you know, the good ones, with the good meat in them, not the awful ones). I really can't recommend this film too much. If you don't know the story, this is a fantastic introduction, and if you do, Burton's pitch-perfect film is a great way to experience it again in a unique way. I'm sure I'll be digging up my Sweeney Todd DVD and getting reacquainted with my old friends Sweeney Todd and his old friends the razors. But before that, I can't wait to see this movie again.

Needless to say, my vote for best picture of 2007 should be quite evident, but in case it needs saying, let me give my choice now: Reno 911: Miami Sweeney Todd.

UPDATE: Added imeem's stream of the movie soundtrack. You'll probably want to wait until you've seen the movie to give it a listen, but it's nice for revisiting the film.

UPDATE #2: Okay, apparently the imeem player above will only play 30-second samples, even if you're logged in to imeem, if you try to stream it from this page. If you click on "launch standalone player," at the bottom of the page (and are logged into imeem), it will open a new window where you can listen to the whole album (as that page doesn't have ads, I don't understand the point of this obstacle to music enjoyment, but whatver, I should be grateful for a free stream of the entire album).

I hit the road last weekend, heading up to Los Angeles to see a presentation of Frankenstein (Mortal Toys) and attend the Museum of Jurassic Technology's Christmas party. I probably couldn't have worked up the strength to drive to L.A. for either event, singularly, but combined they gave my trip purpose.

Frankenstein (Mortal Toys) certainly made the trip worthwhile in and of itself. Mary Shelley's tale, adapted to the stage, then adapted to puppets, cardboard cut-outs, basically, with articulated joints, painted in the style of 18th-century American portrait painting. The puppets were simultaneously simple and expressive, and the stark sets managed to invoke the sublime despite their diminutive size. And the various frigid settings (the Arctic, Mont Blanc) made the show's performance at the Velaslavasky Panorama particularly apt. If you ever have a chance to see a performance of this remarkable show, I highly recommend you do so.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology's party was enjoyable. I always enjoy being there, it's a very peaceful place. It truly invokes the museum's early calling, to invoke the Muses. The Bulgarian folk music was entertaining, and the food was okay, and the curator's dog took a particular shining to me, for some reason (wanting my Apple turnover, I know, but others had food as well, yet I was singled out--I'm special!). I didn't stay too long, as the place was far too crowded for its size, though it is nice to see that lots of people agree with me that the museum is a special place (except for the nasty old ladies who insisted on shouting over the musician standing two paces away so they could continue their discussion of what they had for lunch). As I left the building to go home, I was stopped by two young hipsters, who seemed surprised to see anyone emerge from the storefront (from outside, the museum always appears closed), and started peppering me with variations of what seemed like a simple question, considering I had just left the establishment: What the hell is this place? But, with the exception of the question, "Are there dinosaurs?" (answer: no), I didn't quite know what to say. For a place I have come to bestow an almost holy significance, it is quite difficult to put into words just what it is. There is a very quick reply that immediately comes to mind, but to give that explanation is to once expose the central conceit of the place in a ham-fisted way, and also to narrow it's significance to this one gimmick, defining the whole by one shallow aspect of the part. Though I suppose that all sounds rather pretentious. Anyway, I encouraged them to visit the museum some time, with the promise of oddities and wonderment. And of course I encourage you to do the same, if you find yourself in the neighborhood.

UPDATE: Last time I visited the Velaslavasay Panorama, I didn't share my pictures, which didn't really turn out due to the low lighting. This time, I took some snapshots with my iPhone (did I mention that I bought an iPhone? I have an iPhone), and while the camera in the iPhone isn't the greatest, it actually does remarkably well in low light, so I went ahead and uploaded a few photos of the "Effulgence of the North", as well as one I took from the Museum of Jurassic Technology.

At 9:00 PM PST, the premiere episode of Cinematic Titanic, the new project by the creators of Mystery Science Theater 3000, went on sale. By 9:10, I'd placed my order (too bad they say it won't ship for at least ten days). I figure, for the years of joy they've given me, I owe them that. Having watched the trailer, I'll say I'm cautiously optimistic. I have some reservations, just because I've found Mike Nelson's post-MST3K work somewhat of a let-down (though I applaud him for keeping the spirit of the show alive). I've only seen one of his Film Crew DVDs, and it was enjoyable, being as they chose to riff on a film starring Rue McClanahan as a stripper, but the whole thing had a shooting-fish-in-the-barrel quality (long stretches of the commentary is just Mike and friends reassuring the audience that, yes, they too are horrified by what they see). But the whole Rifftrax thing (downloadable audio commentaries to big Hollywood movies, mostly) never appealed to me--it was the shlocky B-movies and the social commentary they allowed that really drew me to MST3K (especially their takes on short hygiene films; "Mr. B Natural" was a transformative experience in my life).

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that this product exists. And hey, two members of the Cinematic Titanic crew were until recently keeping their writing chops sharp by working on America's Funniest Home Videos, so you know they're bringing the funny (does my snobbery know no bounds? No, it doesn't).

Slylock Fox has introduced a new character, Carla, Cassandra Cat's cousin. Say what you want about this strip, but Bob Weber, Jr., knows how to give his adult fans what they want (assuming they're fur fetishists, or just kinda weird).

If you're having trouble reading the solution to this little mindteaser, I'm pretty sure she picked that house because, judging from the perspective, it's a cardboard cutout of a house, and she can just walk around it (but the fact that she's using a crowbar suggests the house was perhaps built at a 90 degree angle to the street, so that the appearance of sexy cat-burglars could be enjoyed by passers-by).

UPDATE: I think I may have to add the comic strip My Cage to my daily rotation; any strip that "borrows" Cassandra Cat is just alright with me.

UPDATE #2: Okay, so apparently My Cage and Slylock Fox share a syndicate (King Features), and Cassandra Cat's appearance in My Cage is a joint effort that will continue all week; presumably, Carla is just filling in the for her absence this week, but we'll hope she remains. Apparently, according to Ed Power, writer of My Cage, My Cage characters were going to appear in Slylock Fox as well, but that aspect got nixed. Which is odd; they couldn't have looked any more out of place than the creatures in this recent police lineup.

Ike Turner, dead at 76.

Earl McDonnell, inspiration for dog in Mutts, dead at 18.

Universal signs deal with imeem. imeem now has deals to stream music from all four major labels. I like imeem, especially for embedding playlists in this blog, but Wired claims only 30-second samples will be available with embedded players (and sure enough, the playlist they show only has samples); imeem wants you to go to their site and see the ads before you stream whole songs--which makes sense if rumors that imeem is paying a per-song fee and not a percentage of advertising revenue are true. However, Ars Technica's article has an embedded song which streams fine. So I'm hoping that imeem's filters just aren't letting all songs stream yet, but eventually will.

Unfortunately, it looks like imeem's main problem remains: songs are still uploaded by users, so not everything is available, and quality and accuracy isn't always assured. It would be nice if the record labels provided the sites with their catalog, but still, the ability to upload and share with others any major label song is a nice thing to have.

I'm not sure how imeem is doing signing up indie labels; I just checked some previous posts, and it looks like Lee Hazlewood's last album is now streamable, but Porter Wagoner's last album still isn't streamable.