Driver's getting instructions for the Michael Jackson burial, Encino, CA, 5:12pm
Friday, September 4, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Film Short Take - DISTRICT 9
The Bullet and the Bottom Line: A bureaucratic drone discovers what is really going on in the refuge camp that is home to some very alien illegals. This film is either too smart to be dumb fun or not smart enough to sit through with a working brain. Very frustrating.
(caution, some minor spoilers are below)
I have no problem with the slow start of District 9 and enjoyed the middle section that includes the protagonist's inevitable transition to fugitive and the return raid on the lab, but the whole 3rd act has problems. Director Neill Blomkamp, a former CGI supervisor, does well conveying a very realistic-seeming take on extraterrestrials and their practical technology, but the man cannot shoot action sequences clearly.
Then there's the issue of the bio-mechanical weapons. I can accept that a possible reason why the aliens don't simply use their WAY superior firepower to fight back is because A) most are of the worker caste B) as such they have no higher function motivation (hence the aimless destruction, like bored 12 year olds) and C) it's tied to DNA.
But if it's tied to specific DNA, how can Wikus (Sharlto Copley) then use them?
Which means the filmmakers are doing the same dodge that the BSG ones did: claiming that they are writing for a more sophisticated audience, but soon as you start seeing the problems they claim "hey, it's just a movie."
There's also the troubling aspect that a South African film doesn't have a single major black character other than the Nigerian Warlord. Sure, Wikus stumbles around in the beginning with black bureaucrat sidekick and their black armed escort, but after 20 minutes that's it. Considering how lily white producer Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings was, this isn't surprising.
Better than much of what came out this summer, but brother is that not saying much...
(caution, some minor spoilers are below)
I have no problem with the slow start of District 9 and enjoyed the middle section that includes the protagonist's inevitable transition to fugitive and the return raid on the lab, but the whole 3rd act has problems. Director Neill Blomkamp, a former CGI supervisor, does well conveying a very realistic-seeming take on extraterrestrials and their practical technology, but the man cannot shoot action sequences clearly.
Then there's the issue of the bio-mechanical weapons. I can accept that a possible reason why the aliens don't simply use their WAY superior firepower to fight back is because A) most are of the worker caste B) as such they have no higher function motivation (hence the aimless destruction, like bored 12 year olds) and C) it's tied to DNA.
But if it's tied to specific DNA, how can Wikus (Sharlto Copley) then use them?
Which means the filmmakers are doing the same dodge that the BSG ones did: claiming that they are writing for a more sophisticated audience, but soon as you start seeing the problems they claim "hey, it's just a movie."
There's also the troubling aspect that a South African film doesn't have a single major black character other than the Nigerian Warlord. Sure, Wikus stumbles around in the beginning with black bureaucrat sidekick and their black armed escort, but after 20 minutes that's it. Considering how lily white producer Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings was, this isn't surprising.
Better than much of what came out this summer, but brother is that not saying much...
Monday, August 17, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Pics O'Day 7/30/09
Bakery, Agoura Hills, 10:30am
Playa Vista Library, Playa del Rey, 2:24pm
Marina Del Rey 3:02pm
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
LOLZ
From time to time I get sucked into the time wasting black hole known as icanhascheezburger.com portal, usually at Pundit Kitchen or Failblog.
Here are some of my submissions. The "Google" one was actually picked up and run on punditkitchen.com.
moar funny pictures
moar funny pictures
moar funny pictures
Here are some of my submissions. The "Google" one was actually picked up and run on punditkitchen.com.
moar funny pictures
moar funny pictures
moar funny pictures
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Mr. C.
At this point the laundry list of "personages of note" that I have driven has grown rather lengthy with names of various VIP-status. I never know who is going to be impressive to someone. Some get reverential over Avril Lavigne or Rupert Murdoch. When I was telling my cousins some of my past clients, it was Michael Chiklis ("You drove Mackey??!!") that earned me major props.
Myself, there has to be some sense of accomplishment or hefty body of work to earn awe. A sense that the person has impacted the culture or history. Sure, it's a kick to drive someone like Tim Robbins, Carrie Fisher or Mark Grace (or share lunch, as was the case with Grace). But to get actually awestruck requires more gravitas.
So a very telling anecdote about this happened a few years ago taking someone to the 2003 Emmy's. Because of my passenger's stature and age, I was allowed to park behind the Shrine closest to the exit. The faces hurrying past me were who one would expect: Ray Romano, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert.
Yet it was my own passenger who I excitedly called friend and fellow driving veteran Derek Lewis about. After I told the name, he chuckled.
"Steve, you are the only person I know who would get excited to be driving Walter Cronkite."
You're damn skippy I was.
Myself, there has to be some sense of accomplishment or hefty body of work to earn awe. A sense that the person has impacted the culture or history. Sure, it's a kick to drive someone like Tim Robbins, Carrie Fisher or Mark Grace (or share lunch, as was the case with Grace). But to get actually awestruck requires more gravitas.
So a very telling anecdote about this happened a few years ago taking someone to the 2003 Emmy's. Because of my passenger's stature and age, I was allowed to park behind the Shrine closest to the exit. The faces hurrying past me were who one would expect: Ray Romano, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert.
Yet it was my own passenger who I excitedly called friend and fellow driving veteran Derek Lewis about. After I told the name, he chuckled.
"Steve, you are the only person I know who would get excited to be driving Walter Cronkite."
You're damn skippy I was.
Pic O'Day 7/19/09
Guess they have no problem with sires raising a leg on the hydrangea... Manhattan Beach, 11th Street at Highview Avenue, 7:12pm.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Pic O'Day 7/14/09
Hiking Nicholas Flats Trail at about the 3 mile mark, Leo Carrillo State Park, Malibu, 6:49pm
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Pic O'Day 7/10/09
Underpass on Lincoln Blvd beneath Westchester Parkway, near Otis College of Art and Design, 2:07pm
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Pic O'Day 7/8/09
Imperial Highway bikepath under the 105 freeway at Douglas Street. Seen recently in Live Free or Die Hard (underneath), Hancock (on top) and every other car commercial, 7:53pm.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Going to the elephant-less circus
For those that were wondering - yes, apparently I will be at the Wacko Jacko thing Tuesday.
As history seems to have a wonderful sense of timing, the concern has been if the fans will show up too early because Ringling Bros. arrives tonight and the elephants are to be moved at 3am, 7 hours before the memorial. Probably too much to hope for a stampede, eh?
Now, I really regret not taking a picture of the Jeff Koons porcelain statue of Jackson and Bubbles when we stumbled across it last Tuesday at LACMA. You will have to settle for an image from the intertubes:
(from /www.metapedia.com)
As history seems to have a wonderful sense of timing, the concern has been if the fans will show up too early because Ringling Bros. arrives tonight and the elephants are to be moved at 3am, 7 hours before the memorial. Probably too much to hope for a stampede, eh?
Now, I really regret not taking a picture of the Jeff Koons porcelain statue of Jackson and Bubbles when we stumbled across it last Tuesday at LACMA. You will have to settle for an image from the intertubes:
(from /www.metapedia.com)
Monday, July 6, 2009
Dammit, Janet.
Apparently Joyce Dewitt was busted by the El Segundo PD Saturday afternoon for DUI. (the blue tint is some sort of anti-copying thing, but I think it actually enhances the effect)
Okay, admittedly the only reason I wanted to post this was to use that headline. That, and it happened nearby to where I live just after I sent a friend who had a thing for her back in the day a recent (un-intoxicated) photo of the 60 year old actress still looking fantasy-worthy these days.
Full story at:
http://www.insidesocal.com/crime&courts/2009/07/threes-companys-joyce-dewitt-a.html
The story of "Pic O'Day"
The "Pic O'Day" started when I found I could take halfway decent shots with my new Blackberry Curve and could email them to Mary O. instead of having to go into lengthy descriptions. So for 6 months, I would send her things.
The very first one was called "Ground Zero Toaster" (which I haven't gotten around to posting yet). It really is the genesis of doing this blog in the first place, because I figure if I can't come up with something to drone on about every day, I usually see something worth taking a snap of.
Hence, I am going back through my emails and finding the old ones to publish here. So check the date to see if it's fresh or "classic."
And now you know... the rest of... the inane story.
The very first one was called "Ground Zero Toaster" (which I haven't gotten around to posting yet). It really is the genesis of doing this blog in the first place, because I figure if I can't come up with something to drone on about every day, I usually see something worth taking a snap of.
Hence, I am going back through my emails and finding the old ones to publish here. So check the date to see if it's fresh or "classic."
And now you know... the rest of... the inane story.
Pic O'Day 6/30/09
Looking East from the upper, vertigo-inducing deck of the Broad building at LACMA.
Pic O'Day 7/4/09
Tide Change (not mine)
Return from west of Santa Catalina Island.Crew is cleaning the catch ($1 per fish). No catch for me, but Mary O got a perch. It was buy 2 get 1 free, so the whole thing ran us just $45 for 12 hours. Only "catch" is the 3am wake up to be dockside by 4am. Both of us made use of the bunks down below to catch some Zzzzz's on the way back
Dragged kicking and screaming...
Apparently you are nobody in the 21st Century unless you are airing all your clean and dirty laundry for the world to see, so here goes - truly - nothing.
I think we can drop the concern for "invasion of privacy" in this new age, it has been replaced by "invasion of what-should-remain-private" and find ourselves inundated with minutia to test even a kindergarten teacher's ability to feign interest. Or details of bodily functions that should only be of interest to one's self, mother and/or internist.
So, rest assured I will post nothing that I wouldn't repeat in public. Only occasionally will it perhaps be things "I might repeat in public while somewhat intoxicated."
I think we can drop the concern for "invasion of privacy" in this new age, it has been replaced by "invasion of what-should-remain-private" and find ourselves inundated with minutia to test even a kindergarten teacher's ability to feign interest. Or details of bodily functions that should only be of interest to one's self, mother and/or internist.
So, rest assured I will post nothing that I wouldn't repeat in public. Only occasionally will it perhaps be things "I might repeat in public while somewhat intoxicated."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
