Some Useful and Interesting Things For A Friday
Hey, it’s Friday. Congrats, you made it through another week! I’ve had a fun week (more on that below) but, as usual, I’m glad it’s Friday and the week is over.
Although, knowing me as I do, I’m pretty sure I won’t be taking the whole weekend off or anything. Much too much to do, especially with the new project and knowing we’re going to be moving again in a few months.
But that’s later. Now, sit back, relax and enjoy another edition of Useful and Interesting Things.
• My pal Matt Raub and I are back doing a podcast for The Flickcast. I’m very happy about it and you can listen to the brand new episode which kicks off season two right here.
• Confused about who’s who and who’s related to who in the Star Wars universe? Perhaps this handy chart will help.
• I know, you’re still sometimes having trouble with well-known punctuation like the comma “,” or the semi-colon “;” but that hasn’t stopped some enterprising individuals from coming up with 8 new punctuation marks to surprise and delight you.
• Feeling anxious or nervous? Lifehacker has you covered on how to beat it. No, alcohol or other controlled substances are not involved, sorry.
• If you make coffee at home and ever do a Pour-Over, you need a Hario V60 Power Kettle
• Angry, sad, happy, undecided, indifferent about the end of Downton Abbey season three? Perhaps these tidbits about season four will help you feel better/worse/whatever?
Finally, a here’s a little video I like to call Lego Michael Jackson. Coincidentally that’s pretty much what the person who made the video calls it too.
Plus, in case you haven’t seen it, here’s a little bit of Alison Brie and her freestyle rap skills. This video is here mostly so I can put a photo of her at the top of this post. Yes, she’s eating ice cream, so?
What, you don’t like ice cream or something?
[vimeo 60169112 w=525 h=395]
The New 'Die Hard' and Some Amusement for President's Day
First off, I finally saw the latest Die Hard movie. This one, called A Good Day to Die Hard, was not terrible. It wasn’t great, by any means, but it wasn’t terrible. It just was.
I won’t get into a lengthy review here, mostly because Nat Almirall does a fine job of it over at The Flickcast. However, I will say I mostly agree with him and his review, but I didn’t dislike it as much as he obviously did.
I also didn’t have as much of a problem with following things as he seems to have had. Maybe it’s because I have a background in editing or have just seen so many rough assemblies of films that jump cuts and poor attention to scene geography don’t really bother me.
Perhaps it was all the coffee I had before I saw the movie? Or, maybe seeing the movie with Matt Raub made me stay on my toes and pay better attention in case of potential discussion later? I don’t know.
The movie did spark one thing, though, Matt and I have a terrific idea of what the next Die Hard movie should be. Maybe we’ll share that with the class if we ever do another podcast. Hey, it could happen.
Now this:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnM_tcDcZLE?rel=0&w=525&h=295]
Still More Useful and Interesting Things
As life returns to normal (or at least my version of it) I realize it’s been several days since I last put some useful and interesting things up here.
So, with that in mind, here’s some more for you:
• Have trouble getting people to do what you want? Maybe this technique can help.
• For the screenwriting nerds out there, John August and his team have come up with a new version of the venerable Courier font, called Courier Prime, to use when writing your scripts. I’ve switched to it and it’s quite nice.
• If you have a girlfriend who would love this as a gift, marry her. If you already did, kudos to you and it makes a nice Valentine’s Day gift too.
• Here’s a complete collection of Mac OS X install disks. I think I still have all of mine too. Yep, Mac nerd right here.
• Have and iPad? Want to use said iPad in the kitchen or other place where it might get wet? You want one of these.
• I like talented people doing cool things, so I like this. Granted, I know Brian so I may be a bit biased. But still, it’s pretty cool. BTW, you should also read his book
• Last, but not least, Tom Witkin’s Poster app for iOS is for posting to a Wordpress site and is very awesome. It’s become my new favorite and I now use it pretty much every day. Check it out.
Take My Money
I already have a Sonos music system at home and it’s great. The Playbar looks awesome. Take my money (again).
The Doc 'Room 237' Looks Very Interesting
Even though they’ve already covered this over at The Flickcast, I also wanted to call attention to it here. As you know, I’m a big fan of director Stanley Kubrick. We’ve discussed this before.
So, when I hear they’re coming out with a movie about Kubrick and The Shining, I take notice. The movie in question is called Room 237 and a trailer for it has recently dropped.
Check it out below. Can’t wait to see this.
Video Friday: 'Super Mario Busters'
Today is Friday. I’m tired and I don’t feel 100%. Still, that doesn’t mean I can’t share a video with you fine folks.
Today’s is an example of mashups done right. I present to you: Super Mario Busters. A mashup of Ghostbusters and Super Mario Brothers. Yep. Love this.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srXN-1DUd3Q?rel=0&w=525&h=295]
(h/t to Nerdsworth for today’s video)
And Just Like That . . . He Was Gone
Or, so they thought. Turns out he was just working very long hours producing a movie called The Beautiful Ones. But now, at least for the moment, that’s over.
To explain in greater detail, the first phase of the shooting is over. The second phase will commence in about six weeks. I’m still working on other aspects of the production.
The reasons for this particular, and somewhat unorthodox, schedule are many, so I won’t bother to get into them now. Suffice it to say this is the way we’re doing it this time and that’s pretty much it.
Regarding this phase of production itself, I will have more to say about it, and various other related topics, after I’ve slept a bit more. Until then, enjoy this:
[vimeo 27009580 w=500 h=281]
A Couple More Useful and Interesting Things
Yeah, been kinda busy, you know, making a movie and all that. Still, I can’t forget you, my dear Internet friends. So, in the interest of furthering our relationship, here’s another in my semi-regular feature I like to call “Useful and Interesting Things.”
I hope you find these as useful and/or interesting as I do.
• This weekend in LA you can take not one, but two walking tours of the secret life of Los Angeles. It’s fun, you learn something and get much needed exercise. What could be better than that?
• Like emoticons? How about a collection of all Japanese emoticons in one place? Yeah, that’s right. My favorite? This one: ⊂(￣(工)￣)⊃
• Are you a writer? Thinking of self-publishing a book? If so, read Guy Kawasaki’s top ten list of mistakes writers make when self-publishing. You’ll be glad you did.
• And, as I’m currently making a movie, here’s a list of five survival skills the movies have taught us that are completely wrong.
Back On Set Again
So yeah, I’m producing a movie. It’s called The Beautiful Ones and it’s written and directed by a good friend of mine, Jesse Johnson. We’ve got a great cast, including Ross McCall, Julie Warner and Ed Lauter, and a great crew. So far, things are going very well. I’ve posted some pics and such on my Twitter.
It’s nice to be back on set again and I’m having a great time. I guess I missed all the fun and excitement. I’m not going back to producing full time, as I’ve got other things I want to do, but it isn’t a bad way to spend 14 or so hours a day.
I’m also meeting some interesting people. In fact, there’s a couple of them in the photo above. I’ll post more on the movie as it goes along.
For the D&D Fan In Your Life
Okay, this is kinda cool. D&D fans, take note. The fine and generous folks at Wizards of the Coast, in conjunction with DriveThruRPG, have launched Dungeons & Dragons Classics.
What is this, you ask? Well, it’s an “online PDF store that features classic content from every issue of D&D, including fan-favorite supplement materials and iconic adventures.” Awesome, right?
As a true D&D geek, I still have all of my old rulebooks, modules, etc. Yes, I’m the guy who never gets rid of anything. But for the rest of you, or those of you who want new copies as PDF’s to put on the iPad (for example,) this is a great resource.
No, they’re not free. However, the prices are quite reasonable and if you really want the classic books in a much more manageable format, worth it. Check out all the fun over at the D&D Classics Website.
(H/T to ADD for the 411)
These Guys Look Familiar
I’ll admit it, I was a big fan of Tech TV and especially its flagship show The Screen Savers. Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton and the rest of the gang made computers and tech fun, interesting and entertaining. When The Screen Savers ended, I was sad to see it go, especially when it was replaced by something like Attack of the Show.
Although, to be honest, Attack of the Show kinda ended up growing on me . . . a little. Still, it was no Screen Savers. I don’t think anything ever will be again.
Recently, Attack of the Show ended its run on G4 after seven years. Fortunately, even at the end, they didn’t forget their roots and paid due and proper respect to those who came before.
Enjoy.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVcBj_37Umg?rel=0&w=525&h=295]
Still More Useful and Interesting Things
Here we are again with another list of things I find useful and/or interesting. Yes, as you might have gathered by now, I’m going to be making this a somewhat regular thing.
Well, as regular as one can be when one has twenty or thirty things one has to do each and every day. When did I start referring to myself as “one”? I really can’t say, but I’ll stop now.
Moving along, here’s some more useful and interesting things I find, well, useful and/or interesting. Enjoy.
• Mailbox for iOS looks really cool and I’ve already signed up to be part of it. I’m always looking for newer and better ways to manage email on the go. This could finally be “the one.”
• A guy made a movie at Disneyland and Disney didn’t even know about it. It’s called Escape from Tomorrow and it looks really cool and weird. I would love to see the whole thing, but probably never will. I blame the lawyers. Again.
• I’m considering a new vehicle purchase and to help me decide on what to get, there’s a website about various vehicles and their respective fuel economies, courtesy of the U.S. government. You can even compare hybrid versus non-hybrid to see if it makes sense to spend the extra money. Hint: it sorta does, if you plan on keeping the vehicle for longer than 5 years.
• Technology has come a long way in the last 18 years, but we’ve also got a lot of the same problems we did back then. For proof (and some fun nostalgia) check out the trailer for the cutting edge movie The Net.
Oh, in case you forgot, someone at the USA network must have liked The Net enough to make a TV series out of it. Remember those amazing 22 episodes from 1998? Yeah, neither do I.
[youtube www.youtube.com/watch
So, We Found A House
Yes, that’s right. After much searching, in the practical sense and otherwise, we seem to have found a house we want to live in. More details on it will be forthcoming, but no, it doesn’t look like this. If only.
Instead, we found a different kind of house we like, sans moat, and we are now going through that extremely fun process known as “putting the deal together.” That was sarcasm, in case you can’t recognize it.
To be perfectly honest, I don’t think I’m going to enjoy this part very much. It all seems needlessly complicated and full of a lot of nonsense and endless paperwork. I blame the lawyers – and human nature.
I’m pretty sure almost every one of these pieces of paper was created because in the past someone tried to screw someone else and a lawyer stepped in to draft a document which is supposed to prevent it from happening again. Thus, we have a bunch of hoops to jump through and a metric crapload of paperwork to sign. Good times.
Well, thanks a lot. I blame all of you. Well, maybe not you. Or you. You’re alright, I guess.
But the rest of you are now officially on my list. Don’t expect a card next Christmas.
More Useful and Interesting Things
It’s the weekend so many of you are probably out doing weekend-type things. Good for you. Enjoy yourselves.
In the interest of enjoyment, or in some cases entertainment or information to enhance your lives, here’s another list of useful and/or interesting things I’ve found this week.
• I don’t know about you, but I loved arcades as a kid. In fact, I worked in one for almost a year while I was in High School. Games like Asteroids, Missile Command, Galaga and Pac-Man helped shape my childhood. It also cost me a hell of a lot of quarters.
But that’s okay, it was great fun and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Sadly, it seems future generations may not have the same opportunity for fun as I did. The Verge spells out the situation in a must-read article for anyone who loved these places as a kid.
• Once again the folks at Lifehacker come through with some good info. This time it’s what to do before and after a disaster.
• Do you blog? Do you have an iPhone or other iOS device? If so, you may want to check out this great piece of software called Poster. I’m trying it out now and so far, I like it. You might like it too.
• Tired of paying through the nose (or other orifice) for a wireless plan and smartphone? If so, you might want to check out Republic Wireless. It’s a very interesting approach and something I’m going to be looking into in more detail soon.
That’s it for now. Once again, enjoy your weekend. I know I will.
The Latest 'Man of Steel' Trailer . . . Made With Lego
Occasionally, I really like something I find on the Interwebs. In those cases, I feel compelled to share what I’ve found with the three or four of you who read this site. Okay, maybe the eight or ten of you.
With that in mind, I bring you the latest trailer for Zack Snyder’s upcoming Man of Steel – made with Lego. I loved Lego as a kid and obviously, the person who created this video still does. Kudos, I say. Kudos.
Enjoy. After the break.
All Work and No Play . . .
For those interested, and I think I see one or two of you way in the back, I’ve started a new writing project. This is in addition to the several other things I’m currently working on.
Yes, I like to keep busy. Someone once told me, or it may be an actual “thing” people say, “Once you slow down, you die.”
I’m not ready to die just yet.
So, that brings me to the new writing project. It’s a bit different from what I normally write, so it’s challenging on that level. A large part of the challenge also has to do with the fact that, even after all these years, I’m not really sure if I’m any good.
I suspect I’m not alone here. I would bet most “creative” people, at one time or another, feel their work just doesn’t measure up. Or, that it just plain sucks. Or they’ve been told by others their work sucks.
It’s just the nature of the thing. But even if you or some other people do think your work (or my work) sucks, who cares? I don’t. Well, not that much anyway.
The reality is I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for me. I’m doing it because I don’t have any other choice. The words, images and such are in there, and they need to come out. So, I let them come out and whatever will be, will be.
You hear that? Time to come out.
Some Useful And Interesting Things
I guess I might reconsider the title of this post and perhaps change it to something like “Things That Are Useful to Me” or even “Things That Are Useful And Interesting to Me.” Although, because I’m the only one writing here (at least as far as I know), I guess it’s pretty much implied that anything I list in a “useful” or “interesting” post is, or has been, useful or interesting to me personally.
That’s not to say you won’t find these items useful or interesting too, you may. In fact, I hope you do. Anyway, here we go. . .
• Because everyone seems to be getting sick these days, Lifehacker has a no-nonsense, non-alarmist, essential guide to Flu and how to deal with it. Useful indeed.
• The California State University system is going to give online courses a big test and offer a lot of them online during a trial program at San Jose State University. This could save the state quite a bit of money. I wonder how it will go?
• Facebook unveiled a new search feature today which will allow users to search, well, Facebook. The new feature, called “Graph Search,” is designed to allow users to search for content on Facebook such as news posts, status updates, photos, locations and more within the Facebook Social Graph. Sure, why not?
• Over at Sprouted Kitchen, Hugh details his Chemex brewing method. If you like coffee as I do, this is a great way to make it. To make things even easier, he’s put together a video demonstrating the process. Check it out below.
[vimeo 48920310 w=500 h=281]
The photo above is also from Hugh’s article. Just wanted to mention that.