Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Trials
Came upon this scene recently — well, no, I didn’t just come upon it, that would be creepy even by Youtube’s standards1 — I was suddenly reminded of the movie at night, and then (as often happens? ins…
Media
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My favorite year in movies- 2006
There are a bunch of movies I’ve liked, over the years, in different genres, from different times. But there is an unusually large cluster of them around a single year, 2006 (about fourteen years ago…
On Narration, Tinderbox, and other things ...
It's hard to say what is so good about this video. It is many things. It is a generally well-made ensemble, a slice of art criticism, a slice of philosophical questions and concerns, it is a demo…
Lunchtime WSJ book reviews
I started a paper subscription to WSJ right as the pandemic started, and as we eat family lunch, with no phones allowed, I quickly skim the paper. I wish I had done this earlier, but also, I know I c…
So much beauty in the world
https://youtu.be/Qssvnjj5Moo Realized it’s been two decades since I first saw this scene.…
On the appealing strangeness of My Little Pony
I’ll confess I had no impression about “My little pony” (I’ll abbreviate as “MLP” to save keystrokes) until about a year ago, when I first sat down with my daughter and watched the first episode1 of “…
Ennio Morricone
I remember it was about sixteen years ago now, that someone introduced1 me to the spaghetti western genre. This is how I came across the “dynamic duo“ of Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone. I had watch…
The Highlight Zone
One of my favorite shows for Tara is Peg Cat. There is a glut of “kid-oriented shows”, and this is very refreshing. The “drawing quality” is similar to Pete the Cat (crayon-cartoon-ish), with grid…
On “effects” in moving images
See this opening for Vertigo and then realize this: However, what if CGI in films went back even further, to 1957 1958? I heard about this possibility through a video presented by John Hess on some…
Interesting links: March 2020
* Fascinating account of the series whose artwork inspired Star Wars: Valerian * A catalog of various “spreadsheet-based screw-ups” * I was shocked I’ve never heard of “the mother of Chinese comput…
Interesting links: February 2020
* An excellent book review by Peter Thiel (okay, more than that) * Another thing universally felt, and then “discovered”: the polarization of reality * The “out-of-Africa” date has been pushed back…
Interesting links: November 2019
* “Artificial intelligence”, a few centuries ago * The “shape of the universe” * Interesting breakdown of The Matrix (and I’ve seen a few) * Old-time analog computers that … are a bit of a lost tr…