Edward Scissorhands Ballet

Matthew Bourne and New Adventures are back with their latest creation: a magical new adaptation of the classic Tim Burton motion picture Edward Scissorhands.

Although this production is currently only touring the UK right now, I overheard from the director of Urinetown, The Musical that it will be coming to San Francisco. Photos and video clips can be seen by following the link above, but if you have Flash Player 8 and a high-speed connection, you can visit the official site.

Conspiracy Theory Rock
via Cartoon Brew

This weekend, Saturday Night Live is airing an episode comprised entirely of Robert Smigel's animated Saturday TV Funhouse shorts. But there's one short that's guaranteed not to be on the line-up: Conspiracy Theory Rock. The 1998 Schoolhouse Rock parody, animated by J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, criticizes corporate ownership of the media and takes some sharp jabs at NBC owner General Electric.

I saw this short when it originally aired on March 14, 1998. Because I was doing a senior project on media ownership at the time, I was a little disappointed that I didn't tape it. And even more disappointed when I discovered they were never going to show it again (though not entirely surprised).

Seven years later, I had the opportunity to ask J.J. Sedelmaier about the short (at the San Diego Comic-Con last summer). He said I was lucky to have seen it at all, since it had only aired on the New York feed once (which doesn't seem to jibe with my having watched in Forest Grove, OR). Thanks to the Internet, everyone can see it here. In addition, there's a good New York Times story about Saturday TV Funhouse here.

DC Bridges Films with Superman Returns Specials

DC Comics bridges the classic 1980 movie Superman II and one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer with its Superman Returns Specials, four books that each deal with a character from the new motion picture!

I would typically remove the exclamation mark, but it is pretty exciting. It's going to be a big year for Superman, if Warner Bros. has anything to say about it: Year of Superman

Raiders of the Lost Ark as an animated gif

Pretty much the entire movie in only 257KB.

Methanol-Powered Robot Muscles - Bend It Like Bender

Alcohol-powered artificial muscles for robots? They could be one way to solve the limits that batteries place on robotic limbs and prosthetics.

This science news is a good excuse to give a compiled history of Bender.

Episcopal Churches Turn to U2 to Pack Pews
Associated Press

As the electric guitar in the U2 anthem "Pride (In the Name of Love)" faded from four speakers, the Rev. Robert Brooks welcomed worshippers to Grace Episcopal Church with an unusual suggestion: He warned them to protect their hearing.

Christ Among the Partisans
New York Times

There is no such thing as a 'Christian politics.' If it is a politics, it cannot be Christian. Jesus told Pilate: "My reign is not of this present order. If my reign were of this present order, my supporters would have fought against my being turned over to the Jews. But my reign is not here" (John 18:36). Jesus brought no political message or program.

Tired of technology

I'm tired of reading jackasses on the Internet who propagate factually incorrect or inaccurate technology information and cliches. I'm tired of their never-ending bickering and condescension. I'm tired of people hiding behind the anonymity of a computer screen and using that shield to wreak havoc and disturb the peace in a multitude of ways, without consequence. And I'm especially appalled and sickened by the level of illiteracy and carelessness the Internet has revealed among people who are either too lazy or too stupid to take the time to write clearly.

Aaron Adams is tired of a lot of things and I agree with him on most of them. I may be bitter, but I'm shocked and disturbed by the level of unnecessary hatred and anger I see on online message boards. Combine that with the level of factual errors and and it's worrisome. In the last few months I've heard Diggnation podcast co-host Alex Albrecht spout such untruths such as 'Apple has made more money from iPods than it has ever made on Macs' and 'Pixar was started at Disney, so its weird to see them bought back.' At least newspapers have a section for corrections.

The ham's big. It's the movie that got small.
The Seattle Times

Other amateur filmmakers had warned that the editing process takes a long time. These folks often repeated the admonition ("No, I mean really, a long time") as if I hadn't been paying sufficient attention.

A funny first look at digital moviemaking.

Prisoner of Redmond
By Robert X. Cringely

What do you do when your wealth is immense but completely tied to people whom you inherently do not trust? If you are Paul Allen you watch your tongue and spend eight years getting out from under that burden.

This should be of interest to anyone in the Pacific Northwest who are undoubtedly affected by Paul Allen's post-Microsoft ventures. And to anyone else who wants to know a little bit more about how Bill Gates got to be the richest man in the world.

Hijacking the Internet
PC Magazine opinion by John C. Dvorak

It seems to me that if you buy a 1.5-Mbps connection, you should be able to redline the connection, to use the full capacity without being charged more. And you should also be able to use it for whatever you want to use it for. Otherwise, it's like selling public-utility water to people and making them pay more to use it for washing dishes.

Dvorak is loathed by many in the Mac community for his hyperbolic statements. But he has his moments and this is one of them. We've lived in California for a little more than three years and have seen the phone company change hands as many times. So I especially appreciate his noting that

In just six years, the name of the fabulous baseball stadium in San Francisco has gone from Pac Bell Park to SBC Park to AT&T Park. Just the expense of changing the signage and promotional collateral tells you that someone is making plenty of money.

The ads promoting "the new at&t" tell me that "your world is suddenly changing for the better ... all because two companies — two great companies — have now joined forward to deliver the world that matters most: yours." That 'better' world I'm inhabiting has resulted in a DSL connection that drops unexpectedly and repeatedly, regular phone service that was out for a week due to their own downed equipment that they wanted to charge me to come look at, customer service via phone that uses those maddening voice recognition menus (which don't recognize much) and then I get to find out about this:

Whistle-Blower Outs NSA Spy Room

AT&T provided National Security Agency eavesdroppers with full access to its customers' phone calls, and shunted its customers' internet traffic to data-mining equipment installed in a secret room in its San Francisco switching center, according to a former AT&T worker ...

Cox Newspapers tunes out AP Online video
Barnako.com

While 450 news outlets are distributing video newsfeeds from the Associated Press, using its Windows-only viewer, Cox Newspapers is opting out.

According to the interactive-projects editor at the Palm Beach Post, Cox is dropping out because the MSN-supplied player does not work with the Firefox browser or Apple Computer's Macs.

Nice to know someone has some backbone.

How France Is Saving Civilization
Wired News Commentary by Leander Kahney

But French legislators aren't just looking at Apple. They're looking ahead to a time when most entertainment is online, a shift with profound consequences for consumers and culture in general. French lawmakers want to protect the consumer from one or two companies holding the keys to all of its culture, just as Microsoft holds the keys to today's desktop computers.

Many Apple fans have been deriding the bill in France aimed at forcing digital music files to be played on any hardware device. But as Leander points out, if Microsoft held the position in digital music that Apple currently does, those same fans would be complaining to high heaven. They also seem to forget that it would force online stores selling protected Windows Media Audio files to be compatible with the iPod and Macs. Hmmm, that would give Apple competition, and they'd have to respond by making a stronger case to consumers: higher quality files? subscription option? more freebies?

Of course, we also have to consider where this train of thought could take us: Should all blades be legally obligated to work on every razor? Should XBox games be legally compelled to run on a Playstation 2?

The Torn-Up Credit Card Application

Could a determined and dexterous criminal gather all the bits, tape them together and apply for a card in my name? Would a credit card company balk when confronted with an obviously resurrected application?

Overhyped bands
Boston.com

Boston.com has compiled a list of bands from the past five years that we feel were over-hyped by the critics. While you may be angry at some of our choices, remember, we're just a bunch of bitter computer geeks.

Bitter? Count me in! I don't agree with all their choices, of course, but it's a fun trip with a surprise at the end.

Inside Scientology
Rolling Stone

In June of last year, I set out to discover Scientology, an undertaking that would take nearly nine months.

15 years after the Time magazine cover story, Rolling Stone magazine has published an up-to-date and well-researched look at the "religion" that may take you nine hours to read but is engaging nonetheless.

eMusic

A few months ago I received 50 free downloads from eMusic.com as part of a promotion. I at first assumed that, like most non-iTunes digital music download stores, the music available at the store would be in Windows Media Format and would be completely unplayable on my Mac and similarly un-transferrable to my iPod. Boy, was I wrong in the best way.

eMusic sells regular MP3 files that are not protected with Digital Rights Management (DRM). Because of this the songs can be played with ANY digital music software and used on ANY digital music device without restriction.

As expected, the major music labels don't want to sell unprotected music. Subsequently, eMusic doesn't have most major label music. It does, however, have a large selection of independent artists. I was easily able to find 50 tracks to download, between Aimee Mann, Badly Drawn Boy, Grandaddy, The Presidents of the United States of America, and some nifty compilations.

The recording industry is bemoaning the fact that Apple's proprietary copy-protection is hurting the digital music market (See Apple May Be Holding Back The Music Biz) but the reality is that ANY copy-protection is bad for consumers and makes everything incompatible. The labels want Apple to open up their system to their competitors, but if they would simply allow the music to be sold without copy protection, it would be compatible with everything and they wouldn't have this problem.

At least one person is paying attention:
Yahoo exec: Labels should sell music without DRM

And, of course, the CEO of eMusic agrees
eMusic's Pakman: Does he think the iPod is holding back overall music sales?

Pakman does emphasize a factor that is very much in keeping with the dominant theme in your comments: that the music industry would be far better off if it dropped its demands for DRM entirely

Urinetown The Musical

This year's musical production at the Delta Center for the Arts is Urinetown The Musical. It's being directed by John White, who starred as Walter Burns in last summer's production of "The Front Page" and won a Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance Elly Award for Set Design for "Man of La Mancha."

I'll be playing Senator Fipp, a small but distinct role, with performances at 8 p.m. on May 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, and a 2 p.m. matinee on May 14.

Nominated for 10 Tony Awards in 2002, and winner for Best Book of a Musical, "Urinetown The Musical" is the satirical tale of greed, corruption, romance and revolution in a city where water is worth its weight in gold. The show celebrates and spoofs Broadway musical theatre traditions, "poking good-natured fun at everything from corporate greed and politics to boy-meets-girl romance to good-versus-evil."

It is not a happy musical, but it is a funny one.

Jessica Simpson snubs Bush
Yahoo! News

NRCC spokesman Carl Forti said he was surprised at Simpson's position.

"It's never been a problem for Bono," he said, referring to the U2 rock star who has met regularly with political leaders of all stripes to promote various causes, including Third World debt relief.

That's a completely inaccurate comparison. To my knowledge Bono has never appeared at a Republican fund-raiser.

Describing Jessica Simpsons's current employment is the funniest part of this story.

Simpson is currently featured wearing cowboy boots and hot pants in a TV pizza ad.

Is this really who the Republicans want to invite to their gala? A divorced celebrity that is currently sexually tempting an underage boy in a pizza commercial? And you want to sit her next to Congressman Boehner?

TV Shows from the iTunes Music Store

Since we have a TV set and a cable subscription, purchasing TV shows from the iTunes Music Store has never appealed much. It didn't help that the episodes are sold in a small 320x240 pixel resolution. However, our neighborhood lost power for over an hour on Wednesday, Feb. 8 -- when a new episode of "Lost" aired. Even a TiVo can't record if it doesn't have power.

So the next day I purchased the episode (gift certificates are useful) from the iTunes Music Store (the name of which is increasingly inaccurate) and we watched it on our TV. The main point of this post is to note that the quality was shockingly not awful. Apple obviously has a good codec on their hands in H.264, as scaling the image up to full-screen showed little loss in quality. Neither of us could see a difference from the broadcast version.

The lack of commercials, teasers, and network watermark were actually quite refreshing. It also meant that we heard the closing credits 'music' for the first time.

The process wasn't entirely painless, however. For one, I used QuickTime Player instead of iTunes, as the latter is a very poor video player compared to the former. Second, I hooked up my iBook to our TV's RCA jacks. My original iBook required only one $19 adapter to do this. My new G4 iBook required three separate cables/adapters to accomplish the same feat. Finally, you aren't allowed to burn the episode to a DVD. Presumably this is to prevent piracy. If so, why not allow only one burn per episode in the same way iTunes only allows a limited amount of burns of purchased music (using a specific playlist).

Oh, and most importantly, the episode –– "The Long Con" –– was a good one.

The Vendetta Behind 'V for Vendetta'
Dave Itzkoff, New York Times

With ... a body of writing that spans nearly three decades, [Alan] Moore, a 52-year-old native of Northampton, England, distinguished himself as a darkly philosophical voice in the medium of comic books — a rare talent whose work can sell solely on the strength of his name

WonderCon 2006

WonderCon moved from Oakland to San Francisco in 2002, was bought by Comic-Con International in 2004 (the first year I attended), changed its date from April to February in 2005, and moved to the new Moscone Center West location this year, marking its 20th anniversary. Unfortunately, I found this year to be pretty unimpressive.

The first difference this year was the massive line to get in. I don't know if the new building threw the organizers for a loop or if there were just too many people showing up at once, but the line extended around the block. Of course, it's not the first massive downtown San Francisco line I've waited in, but when the day's programming begins at 10:30 a.m. and you don't get let in until after 11:30 a.m. it's not a good start. Oh, and our tickets were pre-purchased.

Michael Chabon was scheduled to sign autographs at noon at the Dark Horse Booth, so we did a bit of scouting around the show floor before returning for that. We managed to be probably 2nd or 3rd in line, and were even given free copies of the latest edition of Dark Horse's Eisner Award-winning anthology Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of The Escapist (try fitting that title on an order sheet!) for him to sign. Those issues cost $8.95 and I was missing that one, so it was especially fortuitous.

He was there with his young son, and signed both my comic books and my paperback copy of his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay" (thank you again, Nicole). On questioning, he told us that the movie version of his book was closer than ever to happening. He seemed astounded when Megan told him she'd read the entire novel while waiting at the boring terminal of the Sacramento Airport.

The first programming session we attended was "Paramount Pictures Presents: J.J. Abrams/M:i:III." J.J. showed some lengthy scenes from the upcoming, unfortunately-titled film that were quite impressive. If the trailer doesn't excite you, it's because it stinks compared to the actual movie footage we saw. I was very impressed with his presentation, especially his admission that he didn't like the first two Mission: Impossible films as much because they didn't focus on the team aspect of the original TV series.

I figured he would get peppered with questions about "Lost," since he's a co-creator of the series, and maybe even "Alias." But, surprisingly, most of the Q&A session seemed to be about "Felicity." Surprising not only because the series ended years ago, but also because I don't think most people would equate comic book fans with Felicity fans.

We got a nice piece of swag from that session: a black cloth baseball cap with a red M:i:III logo. It's nice enough to wear and not geeky enough to get you beaten up. If anything, no one who sees it knows what it means. I've even had one person ask me if it was a Pacific University cap.

The next session we wanted to see was "Pixar's 20th Anniversary Tribute/Cars Preview," but because they were running horribly behind (45+ minutes), we had to wait through quite a bit of the Kevin Smith session. He was there to show some clips from "Clerks II," curse up a storm and tell stories I would generally describe as 'grosser than gross.' I will not recount them here. I wouldn't want the Internet to get inappropriate.

The Pixar session had its highs and its lows. It kicked off with a fun 20th anniversary video sequence edited together from all their films. Then some of the animators who worked on "Cars" talked, and talked, and talked, and it was surprisingly boring. They did show two lengthy scenes from the movie, however, which were very impressive. The first was the opening sequence of the film, featuring music by Sheryl Crow. The second was a scene showcasing the various supporting characters and was quite hilarious. Everytime there's a new Pixar movie I figure it will probably be the "bad one" simply due to the law of averages. But based on what we saw at WonderCon, this will be yet another great film. The final reward for sitting through the tedious commentary session was the presentation of the Oscar-nominated short film One Man Band, which I suspect will be shown before "Cars" in theatres.

The last session I was interested in attending was the "Warner Bros. Presents Superman Returns" featuring Director Bryan Singer "with a surprise to show." Of course, since the sessions were now 45-60 minutes behind schedule, I didn't return until 30 minutes after it was supposed to start (I was definitely not interested in waiting through the "Silent Hill" movie preview). And yet somehow when I returned Bryan Singer was already speaking with his "surprise" –– star Brandon Routh. And, unfortunately, they had already shown the footage. Oh, sure, every OTHER session makes you wait and then show the footage at the end. And after a couple of questions ("Why is the shield so small?") the duo left ... EARLY. To kill the remaining time, V masks were distributed.

For the most part, the exhibit hall was pretty boring. Art Adams was never at his table in Artist's Alley when I came by. And Hellboy author Mike Mignola was only signing on Friday. Noted Star Wars author Timothy Zahn was signing past his timeslot, but it looked like only his new book, Outbound Flight. I did get to have a nice chat with Erik Larsen, who's mostly back on track with Savage Dragon after becoming editor of Image Comics. I'd say he's done a pretty good job, since he oversaw the release of the 10th Anniversary Hardcover (it was originally solicited in 2003). And I managed to find the second collected volume of The Matrix Comics...

macCompanion March reviews

• WheresTheFreeSpace V0.1
  Even though the capacity of hard drives has increased dramatically in the last decade, that seemingly endless space can disappear quickly. If you want to know where all that space is going ... your best bet is an application designed for the task.

The Pharaoh

Let me know which of these you like better and why:

Normal .Mac photo album
New iWeb 1.0.1 photo album

New Grant System Excludes Mac Users

What if the federal government were about to give away more than $400 billion in grants, but only people whose computers ran on Microsoft software could apply?
...
Critics note that in contrast to the domination of PCs in the business community, Macs constitute about one-third to one-half of the computers scientists and academicians use.

Wired News: 2005 Vaporware Awards

Several wags nominated our vaporware story itself for an award. Yeah, we know it's late. Apologies for that. But we never promised it in 2005, so it wasn't eligible anyway.

Always a fun annual read, especially considering how many repeat offenders there are. And I'm satisfied that a product I nominated made the list.

U2 dominates 48th Annual Grammy Awards

In typical award-show fashion, producers, in their apparent zeal to introduce Recording Academy Chairman Neil Portnow, cut U2's Album of the Year acceptance speech short just as Mullen stepped to the microphone.

Larry never talks! And the one time he's going to, he gets cut off! Now he may never speak publicly again! Way to go, producers!

Tartakovsky Directing Dark Crystal Sequel

Award-winning animation director Genndy Tartakovsky, who created the hit series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory, will direct Power of the Dark Crystal, the much anticipated sequel to The Jim Henson Company's 1982 classic fantasy film. The announcement was made by Lisa Henson, co-CEO of The Jim Henson Company and a producer on the film.

Coldplay in Sacramento

liveDaily.com Review: Coldplay in Sacramento, CA

Grammy voters are wack. Coldplay is arguably today's most important rock band, currently touring in support of arguably the best mainstream rock record of last year, and the group deserves to go head-to-head with the likes of Kanye West and Mariah Carey in the major categories.

I agree completely. Personally, I think "X&Y" is more deserving of an Album of the Year nomination than U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb."

Besides getting ... roughly 20 great Coldplay tunes, fans also got the chance to see Fiona Apple open the show. Most, however, could have done without her presence.
...
When Apple finally left the stage, following a version of "Fast as You Can" (also from "Pawn"), she received a resounding ovation--but not for the reasons an artist would hope.

I disagree. Most of the folks surrounding us were either quite enthusiastic in their response to Fiona's set, or they were simply tolerant. I've been to concerts where the crowd dislikes the opening act (P.J. Harvey opening for U2 in Portland) and they don't give resounding ovations.

After a so-so stripped-down segment ... the band decided it was time to wind up "Clocks." Just like on "Parachutes," the song came across like a prime example of elegant songwriting delivered with extreme passion.

Um, "Clocks" is not on the album "Parachutes." Messing up easily-checkable facts like that puts the whole review in question.

It was a great show, by the way: a good setlist with very impressive visuals. Their combination of heart and incomprehensibility (what's with the cover art?) has cemented their position as the shared child of U2 and Radiohead.

New Coke ads for 2006

Several of the Coke Classic commercials are vignettes set to music.
...
One is an upclose look at Coke poured over ice cream. The words flash up: "You had a good run, root beer."

What this article doesn't note (and I have not been able to find any note of it anywhere via Google) is that the music used in this commercial is a cover of Gavin Friday's "The Slider" from his 1996 album Shag Tobacco. I saw the commercial at Regal Cinemas and recognized it so fast it was scary. I'm still bitter that I was not old enough to see him at Berbati's Pan back then.

Edit: I was wrong! Thanks to some cordial and not-so-cordial commenters (thanks for raising the level of discourse on the Internet), I've learned that the song in the ad is the original version of The Slider by the Marc Bolan-led T. Rex. Gavin Friday merely covered it in '96. This makes a lot of sense, since Gavin Friday (along with Bono) covered "Children of the Revolution" for the Moulin Rouge soundtrack and is obviously a big fan of the '70s rock god. The version of "Shag Tobacco" I listened to was a demo tape, so I've never seen the booklet where the appropriate credit was presumably given.

Captain Confederacy

First, read this story, which appeared in The Record:
Family finds comic book gift offensive

An 11-year-old boy and his foster mother are mad about unwittingly buying a comic book they consider racist.

Then read this story at Newsarama:
Captain Confederacy moves to the web

Thanks, in part, to a knee-jerk response such as this by the press to his comic, Captain Confederacy, creator Will Shetterly has opted to put the entire run of the comic series online.

Now determine which did a better job of informing its readers.

Simpsons Comics #112

Some years ago, the producers of The Simpsons toyed with the idea of spinning off some minor characters into their own television series -- each of which failed. But that didn't stop the studio marketing and licensing teams from creating comic book tie-ins for the quickly cancelled shows. Perhaps those books are best left on scrap heap of comic history, or maybe, just maybe, the time has come to present "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase Quickly Cancelled Comic Cavalcade," featuring the return of 'Chief Wiggum P.I.,' 'The Love-matic Grampa,' and 'The Simpsons Family Smile-Time Variety Hour.'

If you've seen the original episode of The Simpsons with the Spin-Off Showcase, this issue is hilarious. Find it at a Comic Shop near you.

The Washington Post Help File

Q: I can't watch videos posted on MSNBC in Firefox, because the site keeps telling me that I need to run Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player. Why can't these files play in my own browser?

A: MSNBC made that impossible when it adopted Microsoft's MSN Video software, which requires that you run IE for Windows and accept the installation of an ActiveX program from MSN's site. To drive away 10 to 15 percent of the potential audience like that is a foolish thing for any news site to do, but MSNBC (with which The Post shares some news stories) seems to have decided that promoting the proprietary software of one of its owners matters more.

Christmas 2004 iMovie

Everyone that's in this movie has probably seen it by now, but since I've got plenty of space on my .Mac account, I figured I might as well put it online.

Alleged eDonkey pirate gets trial

Paramount tried to do a forensic analysis of Davis' Macintosh G4 cube. But the company found that Davis wiped his hard drive clean and reinstalled the operating system soon after being notified of the legal action against him.

Macworld Expo SF 2006 recap

I was not granted a Media Badge this year, so I only visited the Exhibit Hall. Since that was not scheduled to open until 11 a.m. (it never opens before Steve Jobs' keynote) I didn't plan to arrive until about 11:30 a.m. That ended up becoming 12:30 p.m. thanks to a traffic jam on 580.

I stopped into the Apple Retail Store since it's right at one of the exits of the Powell St. Bart station but saw no new products.

Here's the conversation I overheard while I was waiting in line to get my badgeholder.
Woman: "I have to wear a badge?"
Man: "That's how they know you're allowed to be here"
Woman: "But it's going to wreck my outfit!"

There was quite a crowd around the Apple areas, but I did manage to pin down a few reps and get a first-hand look at the new hardware and software. First was the new MacBook Pro. I was surprised that a "Pro" laptop was one of the first Intel-based Macs, since they had promised to release consumer hardware first. I was also surprised that it looked remarkably similar to the PowerBook G4. The only external differences at first glance were the built-in camera and the remote control infrared sensor for Front Row. There was a FireWire port, contrary to some predictions that Apple's first Intel-based laptop would not include this, but only one? I was impressed with the size of the screen, but I'm used to a 12" iBook, so that doesn't say too much. Curiously absent were any claims about heat, battery life, or wireless reception -- all problems that affect the current PowerBooks. The rep tried to show off Front Row to me, but the machine had crashed. This gave me the chance to see how fast it booted: the time between the Welcome to Macintosh status bar and the final load of the Finder desktop was mere seconds. And despite some who worried, there are no Intel branding stickers.

I next got to look at the new iMacs. Again, I was surprised these were the first Macs to receive an Intel processor, since they had just gotten a redesign a few months ago. And these look exactly like those G5 models. The speed seemed impressive. A gentleman asked why he would want this iMac instead of the one he currently owned. The rep then answered by clicking on every application in the Dock (Safari, Mail, iChat, iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto, iTunes, Keynote, Pages) and we could see them all start up in about 2-3 bounces. "Can your Mac do that?" the rep asked. Impressive. I also watched Word 2004 run via the Rosetta "translation" which was transparent. But Virtual PC and Apple's "Pro" apps will not work on either of the Intel Macs. Going against hardware introduction tradition, the older iMac G5s are still available. Choice is good.

There were plenty of stations showing iLife '06 and I was impressed with iPhoto's changes, especially full-screen editing and multi-image comparison. The greeting cards look nice and so do the calendars, but couldn't we have gotten those before the new year started? The rep could not answer my question about whether or not the new photo-sharing web page templates could hold more photos per page than the current ones do. In fact, he was unaware that there was even a limit. "I don't really use .Mac for publishing photos," he admitted. Hey, Apple, when your own reps use a competing photo-publishing solution, pay attention.

iMovie HD 6 was less impressive in terms of overall changes. I doubt I'll ever be able to take advantage of the 1080i editing mode. But the ability to open multiple projects at once is a welcome improvement. The themes were very impressive and I'm now glad I didn't finish our Hawaii movie before Christmas since I think they'll be very useful for that project. I've since discovered, however, that those themes require OS X 10.4.4. I still have not installed Tiger on our iMac G5 since I find Spotlight to be truly awful. I'm not looking forward to resolving this incompatibility.

It was very difficult to find anyone that could tell me about iDVD 6, which nowadays I am actually interested in. But I attended an Apple presentation on iLife '06 and saw some of the new themes and the ability to expand the window in order to view the menus "tree." The ditching of the bordered brushed metal interface for the borderless iTunes 5-6 look is actually good, I think, because it provides more usable screen space.

The introduction of Apple's iPod Radio Remote (hmm, does this qualify as fulfilling my "Apple-branded iPod accessories" prediction?) is welcome to me. Not because I actually want to listen to the radio on my iPod (What's the point?) but so that maybe it will finally SHUT UP all those people who complain about how the iPod isn't as good as other digital music players because it doesn't have an FM tuner. You've got video and radio now, okay? Stop complaining now!

Does anyone not have an iPod case? Because if you were looking for one, Macworld Expo was the place to be. There must have been dozens of exhibitors hawking iPod cases. Probably half of the exhibit hall floor was devoted to iPods instead of Macs. The weirdest accessory I saw was this iPod visor that looked like Geordi LaForge's banana clip from Star Trek: The Next Generation. If you're looking for a way to look like a geek, this thing is a lock.

Although I was denied a Media Badge this year (but the guy from ThinkSecret gets to attend the keynote?) I was invited to an evening press reception for Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit at the posh W Hotel across the street. Free hors d'oeuvres and an open bar made a great end to a day that was actually pretty exhausting. Walking and standing around for hours with heavy bags on your shoulder is tiring. The true benefit, though, was the chance to talk to members of the MacBU and ask questions about the products. My main interests are Entourage and Virtual PC. It was great news to hear that Entourage would get an update in March to make it "Spotlightable" (maybe that's when I'll upgrade the iMac) and be compatible with iSync (and thus the iPod). They are aware that the Send Feedback link is broken and explained that it was somewhat out of their control. Virtual PC is not compatible with the Intel Macs, but one of the team members (who formerly worked with Connectix) said he was hopeful they would release a new version, but couldn't commit to it (understandably). They've been awaiting information from Apple on exactly what kind of processor would be used, since the application is tied so closely to the hardware.

I asked about Windows Media Player, although I knew the MacBU isn't responsible for that. They said they'd find someone to get back to me. Of course, it's since been announced that they have ended support for Windows Media Player for the Mac. They claim they stopped developing the Mac version so they could focus on efforts for Vista. It obviously didn't help too much since they stopped developing it two years ago and in that time still haven't shipped Vista. They also claim "We just did not have the resources to do a good job on (the Mac version)." Microsoft doesn't have the resources? Apple has the resources to create iTunes for Windows, but the biggest software company in the world doesn't have enough resources to reciprocate? Sure.

Another interesting nugget of info I heard at the reception is that Firefox will be rewritten in Cocoa. I have yet to see that information elsewhere, but I hope it's true. I also got a chance to see Shawn King of Your Mac Life there and complimented him on the great job he and J. continue to do on a weekly basis. Their live show on the exhibit hall floor with Adam Engst was entertaining, as well. He even gave me a free pin -- one of those nice form-cut ones, not a cheap button pin.

I didn't stay through the whole reception, as I still had to take BART back to Dublin and then drive home. But all in all, it was worth the trip. I scored a great deal on a 160GB LaCie FireWire drive, so that ought to solve my storage needs for another six months.

DC Comics & The Postal Service team up

Ten comic book heroes will be saluted on the "DC Comics Super Heroes" stamps next summer. Half of the pane of 20 will be portraits of the characters; the other half will show individual comic book covers devoted to their exploits. The characters include Aquaman, Batman, The Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Plastic Man, Supergirl, Superman and Wonder Woman.

When I first saw that headline text, I thought they were talking about the band. So this was less exciting news than I thought it might be. Oh, and you'll have to scroll down the linked page quite a bit, since there's not a direct link to the more detailed information.

Macworld SF 2006 scorecard

Here's how I scored:

100% right:

• iLife '06
  I even correctly noted that iMovie would be tagged with '6' instead of 'HD 2'
  
• New laptops with built-in iSight camera
  There are two models, so that qualifies as plural laptops
  
• DVR not introduced
  The Apple DVR is a wishful-thinking product like an Apple 'iPhone' that's been 'predicted' for years

50% right:

• Macs introduced with Intel processors will not ship until February
  This was true for the MacBook Pro, but not for the 2x faster iMac
  
• Additional video content added to iTunes Music Store from FOX and HBO
  Additional video was added, but not from FOX or HBO
  
• Updates to .Mac related to iWeb and streaming video
  Podcast, blog and photocast support was added, but not video
  
• Apple-branded iPod accessories, such as dockable speaker set
  There was no dockable speaker set, but the Remote Radio Tuner is Apple-branded and it's an iPod accessory

0% right:

• New iPod shuffle with display
  I was certain I'd be at least 50% right on this one. Surprising, but not disappointing.
  
• New AirPort hardware product to stream video from computer to TV, including remote
  Remotes were included with the new laptops and iMacs, but that doesn't change the fact that this prediction was dead wrong.

TBD:

• At least one new product announced will draw complaints of "but it's too expensive!"
  I didn't hear this about the hardware products (yet) but did hear some grumbling about whether the updates to the iLife suite warranted the $79 price.
  Update: MacBook Pro "too expensive"

Ick Factor

Many Straight Guys Say 'No Thanks' to 'Brokeback Mountain'

It's true, the movie "Brokeback Mountain" does provoke what one researcher calls "a very strong ick factor" in some straight men. What is it in this story of two cowboy pals in 1960s Wyoming who find themselves in lifelong love -- yet go on to marry women -- that elicits this response from heterosexual males? The answers are as complex as the plot.

Funny story ... about how I got quoted in this Newhouse News Service story, that is. I posted a comment at this Entertainment Weekly blog post (Queer eye for the straight 'Brokeback'-watching guy) and was later contacted by National Correspondent Dru Sefton, who I had a nice conversation with. As with all interviews, 15 minutes gets distilled down to a sentence or two.

Macworld SF 2006 predictions

Here's what I think is going to be introduced Tuesday by Apple:

• iLife '06
  
  • GarageBand 3
    
  • iTunes 6
    
  • iPhoto 6
    
  • iDVD 6
    
  • iMovie 6
    
  • iWeb
• New iPod shuffle with display
  
• Updates to .Mac related to iWeb and streaming video
  
• New AirPort hardware product to stream video from computer to TV, including remote
  
• New laptops with built-in iSight camera
  
• Apple-branded iPod accessories, such as dockable speaker set
  
• Additional video content added to iTunes Music Store from FOX and HBO

Here's what I think will NOT be introduced by Apple:

• DVR
  Making a DVR is not as easy as it seems and Apple doesn't want to deal with the headaches of being compatible with cable set-top boxes. It also undercuts their plan to sell you individual shows. Plus, TV networks don't like DVRs and Apple wants to make them happy.
  
• Intel-based Macs that ship immediately
  If any Macs are introduced with Intel processors, they will not ship until February at the earliest and, more likely, May.

Oh, and at least one new product announced will draw complaints of "but it's too expensive!"

macCompanion December 2005

I've got one software review in this month's issue of macCompanion:

• Data Rescue II
  Prosoft had a strong data recovery utility with Data Rescue X, and thanks to improvements to its speed and interface, the Tiger-compatible Data Rescue II is even stronger.

2005 Year-End Google Zeitgeist

Considering all that has occurred in 2005, we thought it would be interesting to study just a few of the significant events, and names that make this a memorable year. (We’ll leave it to the historians to determine which ones are lasting and which ephemeral.) We hope you enjoy this selective view of our collective year.

Apocalypto teaser has hidden image

The teaser trailer for Mel Gibson's Apocalypto was released last week. At about 1:46 into it, this single frame appears.

Judge Rejects Teaching Intelligent Design

"That was a real drag," said Michael J. Behe, a professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University who was the star witness for the intelligent design side.

A "real drag?" The star witness gives quotes like that?

Peter's Evil Overlord List
or "The Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord"

Some of my favorites include

• My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.
  
• If an advisor says to me "My liege, he is but one man. What can one man possibly do?", I will reply "This." and kill the advisor.
  
• My Legions of Terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.
  
• I will instruct my Legions of Terror to attack the hero en masse, instead of standing around waiting while members break off and attack one or two at a time.

SPJ criticizes radio station’s sale of naming rights

The Society of Professional Journalists urges Clear Channel radio group to stop allowing its stations to sell naming rights to their newsrooms. WIBA, a Clear Channel radio station in Madison, Wis., sold the naming rights for its newsroom to a local bank.

The top 10 weirdest USB drives ever

USB drives comes in thousands of designs and colors, but these 10 are extraordinary weird. Or what do you think? Go ahead, check them out. They are weird! Promise. Hehe.

OCC trustees oust student paper adviser

Bosley rebutted the two reasons she was given for not being renewed as newspaper adviser — that the paper contains too many errors and that student staff, because they use Macintosh computers, are not being prepared for the real world.

Christmas House Video

This amazing animated Christmas display, synchronized to a rousing rendition of 'Wizards in Winter' by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, was constructed in 2004 by Carson Williams of Mason, Ohio using programmable light controllers and software made by Light-O-Rama of Garfield, New Jersey. The music was broadcast on FM radio so viewers could listen to it as they drove by the house in their cars.

What Is On George Bush's iPod?

Ever wondered what the most powerful man in the world listens to in his spare time? In a rare departure from formal media interviews, George Bush has revealed what is on his personal IPod. Andrew Wilson reports on the President's favourite tunes.

This is a streaming Windows Media video.

eBay: 8-Ft LEGO Rebel Attack Cruiser

This one-of-a-kind 8-foot LEGO Rebel Attack Cruiser model was designed by LEGO Master Builder Erik Varszegi for display at Star Wars Celebration III, San Diego Comic-Con, LEGOLAND California and several other national LEGO events to promote the final episode in the Star Wars saga. Megan and I saw it at Comic-Con and were blown away by both the size and the detail. You can see our picture in our Comic-Con photo gallery, but we couldn't back up enough to get the whole thing in the frame. Better pictures are found by following the link above.

It is now being auctioned off with a signed certificate of authenticity from George Lucas and 100 percent of the proceeds will be donated to Habitat for Humanity’s hurricane relief efforts in the southeastern United States to aid families who are rebuilding their lives in the wake of the natural disaster.

There are six days remaining to bid, so make sure you've got at least $31,000. But shipping is free!

TV glitch mars Xbox 360 Kong game

Fans wanting to get the best out of the King Kong video game should avoid the version for Microsoft's new Xbox 360, the game's maker Ubisoft has suggested.
...
"When you play on an Xbox or a PlayStation 2, you start to see that it is beautiful," he said.

Ouch. This is just sad. However, the headline is misleading, as there is no "TV glitch."

The Ubisoft boss said the team who made the game used certain settings on high-definition TV screens. It did not occur to them that there would be a problem with standard televisions, which are what most people use to play console games.

Forbes.com: Sweet Profits

Not so long ago, in candy stores not so far away, anyone could snag a bag of Masterfoods' limited edition Star Wars dark chocolate M&M's. But since their release in collectible packages in April, the ten-week window of the promotional product has long since closed, leaving many craving more. And now some speculators have stepped in, tasting some sweet profits.

This article is slightly out of date now, since dark chocolate M&M's were re-released in late September through early November. What is still relevant, though, is they were impossible to find. I snagged 1-1/2 lb. at M&M's World when we were vacationing in Las Vegas, but once they're gone, it'll be tough (impossible?) to go back to boring old milk chocolate.

Video Journal # 22 - 20 Hours in San Diego

When we were at the 2005 San Diego Comic-Con, I attended the session for Superman Returns, featuring Director Bryan Singer. That session and the events surrounding it are recounted in his video journal on BlueTights.net. It does not reveal most of the footage that was previewed to the audience, and neither does the recently-released teaser trailer. But it's a fun little video nonetheless.

Christmas 2005 Newsletter

A Web Exclusive!! The 2005 edition of the Hargreaves family Christmas newsletter - The Informer - is available online! It is a 532KB PDF file, which translates into a 1-2 minute download for you dial-up users but unnoticable to you broadband users. Whether it loads in your browser window or launches Adobe Acrobat/Reader, don't forget that you can zoom in if it displays too small for your taste. This is a reward for all you blog readers who may or may not get a print version in your Christmas card (as if visiting this site isn't reward enough...)

Informer 2005

Steve Jobs discusses music labels, iPods and Intel Macs

Jobs also warned of the challenge of offering extra features just for the sake of it, saying "We are very careful about what features we add because we can't take them away."

Really? Because over the past few years, you've taken away the included carrying case/belt clip, wired remote, the Settings option on the main menu, FireWire cable, dynamically-updating smart playlists, the headphone connector, power adapter, and the ability to sync with iTunes via FireWire. So are you sure you can't take things away?

Jelly Belly Factory

Megan and I visited the Jelly Belly Candy Co. in Fairfield earlier this month. Because it was a weekend, they were not actually making candies at the time and all the machines were at rest. But we still got to go on a walking factory tour with a knowledgable guide and watch some videos about the Jelly Belly bean-making process. We also saw a number of the Jelly Belly artworks, some of which use as many 5,000 beans. We even saw the 1989 World Series piece that was not missing a single bean after being recovered after the earthquake. Neither photography nor videocameras were allowed, however.

Interesting facts from that tour include:

• The only flavor of Jelly Belly's 50 flavors that is not included in its 49 Flavors bag is Jalapeño.
• Jelly Belly beans that get stuck together or are irregularly-shaped are called Belly Flops
• They also make more than 100 other types of candy, including Candy Corn and Jordan Almonds

After the factory tour, we got to sample Jelly Belly beans from the (free!) Sampling Bar. They had a number of rare flavors available including: Green Tea Ice Cream, Baked Beans, Garlic, Buttered Toast, Pomegranate, Mint Trio, some new JBz flavors and the (ugh!) Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. I recommend having a Strawberry Jam + a Peanut Butter + a Buttered Toast.

But why were there children crying? Hello?! "Like a kid in a candy store" does not refer to unhappiness! You're getting free candy! We bought a few bags of Belly Flops at the visitor store, among other things and also had lunch at the Jelly Belly Cafe where Megan had a Jelly Belly-shaped cheeseburger. All in all, a neat place.

iTunes outsells traditional music stores

For its comparison, the company compared 12 separate song downloads at iTunes to a single album purchase at an ordinary retail store. Using that measure, iTunes scored higher than Tower, Borders and Sam Goody.

Impressive and unexpected

Las Vegas, Man of La Mancha photos

In one of my quickest updates yet, I've posted photos from our Las Vegas mini-vacation that were just picked up this evening. There is still one more roll that will probably not get developed until after Christmas.

And in one of my slowest updates (yet), I've posted photos from the April/May 2005 production of Man of La Mancha. However, I did have literally hundreds of nearly identical images to comb through and most were not in chronological order.

Las Vegas November 2005
Man of La Mancha 1
Man of La Mancha 2

Paris Hilton doesn't change facial expressions

Warning: May cause seizure. Oh, and the images flash really fast, too.

DRM Crippled CD: A bizarre tale in 4 parts

The key restriction of this particular DRM is that it renders a disc nontransferable to the iPod. Nor can you make a backup copy, or travel discs, or a copy for the weekend house, or use any of the songs on a mixed disc. Oh, and it won't work with my iTunes Music software (and that also means no shuffle play).

U2 in Oakland on Tues., Nov. 8

We saw U2 perform in San Jose on the first leg of the Vertigo tour back in April [review]. When they returned to the Bay Area to perform in the Oakland Arena, we certainly had questions: Would the show be any different? Would it be worth seeing twice? The answer to both those questions is yes.

Although the selection of songs played on Tuesday night was surprisingly the same (more on that disappointment later) the performance of each was dramatically improved and the overall concert was miles ahead of April's.

Just like in San Jose, things kicked off with City of Blinding Lights. But instead of a confusing, bewildering lead-up, there was a joyful, celebratory feel. And the visuals, particularly the video screens composed of hanging "beads" were astonishingly better. The song is a great concert opener and I suspect it will show up as the beginning of an encore on a future tour (again, more on that later).

The set list remained unchanged for the next two tracks: Vertigo and Elevation, which sustained the high energy. Vertigo benefited from an extended coda -- a feature that has improved many U2 songs performed live, notably With or Without You, One and Mysterious Ways. It's also a great crowd response song (Hóla!), topped only by Elevation (Woo-ooo-Hoo!).

I was shocked to next hear the distinctive tones of Mysterious Ways, since last time they'd played The Electric Co. and The Ocean, a couple of tracks from their 1980 debut album Boy. They had sometimes mixed it up by playing different tracks from that album: An Cat Dubh or Out of Control, both of which I have never heard them perform live and was looking forward to (I would have settled for Electric Co. again). Unfortunately, I would not get my wish, as nothing prior to 1983 was played all evening.

Instead, Mysterious Ways was the first of five Achtung Baby performances that evening (if there's one other album to favor besides the newest one, I don't mind it being that one). It was a great performance, again marked by improved visuals. From our vantage point looking directly at the stage front, the video curtains were reminiscent of the PopMart tour and the video screens at the top were straight from the Elevation tour. Bono brought a girl from the audience (who was apparently from Kenya) up onto the stage and they danced a bit ("She moves in Mysterious Ways") before she jumped on his shoulders and he gave her a piggy-back ride around part of the catwalk. It lengthened the song considerably, but the other members soldiered on with the aforementioned excellent coda ("It's alright, it's alright, it's all right").

They then lit into Until the End of the World, one of those U2 songs that's 10x better live than on the album. They've probably played it at every concert I've been to, but it's still a killer track. At this point in the San Jose concert, everyone was sitting down while U2 plodded through The Ocean. But at this point in Oakland no one had even thought of sitting yet.

They did take a breather after that, giving Larry's arms a chance to rest while Bono thanked everyone for coming out and explained that while they're proud of what they've accomplished, they still feel they have a lot of work ahead of them (which met with much audience cheering). Thus it was appropriate they then played I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. It was one of their biggest U.S. hits and the crowd always laps it up. I've heard it too many times on the radio, but the live performance is still enjoyable and the strong lyrics still resonate. Added to the end was a snippet of In A Little While.

The similarly bittersweet Beautiful Day was next, followed by Miracle Drug. I noted that this song was surprisingly strong last time (and had a great lightshow) and it had only grown stronger. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own was next and the flow of these four songs was a perfect Part 2 for the concert after the high-energy Part 1.

Part 3 began with the predictable trio of war-related songs: Love & Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday and Bullet the Blue Sky. The first has been a highlight of the tour, prompting a reevaluation of the album track I was previously unimpressed by. It was just as good here and it brings Larry out to the edge of the catwalk for some solo standup drumming. Sunday Bloody Sunday was incredibly powerful, partly because Bono noted "it's your song now." Disturbing to think that a song written about terrorism in Northern Ireland in the 1970s could hold such emotional resonance in the U.S. in 2005. "How long must we sing this song," indeed.

Bullet the Blue Sky, while one of their oft-performed and oft-recorded live songs, is not one of my musical favorites but it had a nice beat and you could dance to it... Mostly the crowd was silent once Bono put the bandana over his eyes and blindly felt his way to the microphone to finish the song. I'm sure the recent news about alleged secret CIA prisons didn't make that any more comfortable. He dedicated the song to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces, though, and the crowd gave a surprisingly loud, positive response, considering the politics of the Bay Area. (Although U2.com says the show was in San Francisco, let's give the city of Oakland a little more credit)

The normal followup to that song (even on the album) is Running to Stand Still and the two are almost always performed together. But lately Miss Sarajevo has taken its place. I've never been a huge fan of this song, but I was glad to hear it live for the first time. And I was incredibly impressed that Bono sang the portions of the song that tenor Luciano Pavarotti performed for the original version, in Latin, no less. It's a perfect choice to segue out of the violent songs and led wonderfully into the declaration of human rights, which was very awkward and forced during the first leg of the tour.

And it segued perfectly into Pride, which I've heard so many times that I could live with never hearing in concert again. But I know by the reaction of the crowd that I was in the minority on that. And with the recent passing of Rosa Parks, it was fitting. Where the Streets Have No Name fit perfectly after and brought the audience to its highest point.

And so Part 4, the uplifting/take-action part of the show closed with One. The whole tour doubles as a recruitment tool for The ONE Campaign and it's prior to this song that members are asked to send their name in a text message to show their support (It's really hard to type Hargreaves on a cell phone keypad). The constellation of cell phones that light up the arena is beautiful in a modern way. I'm surprised the other members allow Bono to make such blatant plugs, but maybe I shouldn't be. This segment felt jarring during the first leg, like you'd just realized the vacation you got for free was actually designed to sell you a timeshare, but tonight it was pitch perfect. The song was backed by some impressive visual trickery involving still images of crowd members forming a video image of Bono.

The coda ("Hear me coming, Lord; Hear me call; Hear me knocking, scratching at your door") is as powerful as ever, but the last few notes drifted on at the end as Bono and The Edge conferred for a curiously long time. Bono then announced "this is for Axver" and proceeded to sing the first verse and chorus of One Tree Hill with minimal guitar backing. A live performance of that song is a rare occurrence, indeed, and one that I certainly appreciated. I had seen him take and read a slip of paper from an audience member much earlier in the show and I suspect it was the request of that song.

Although they left the stage at that time, it wasn't long before the four overhead video screens came to life, with full-color images spinning like a slot machine. For a brief moment, I felt like ZOO TV had returned. And when the Achtung Baby image appeared and started asking for 'Mommy,' I had high hopes for a Zooropa song (which have all been woefully underrepresented, in my opinion). Instead we got Zoo Station, which is one of my favorite tracks and one of their most overlooked songs, in my opinion. It was just as good as in San Jose and was similarly followed by The Fly. The difference was that the latter had an incredible new visual accompaniment, with words and phrases flying around like an insane(r) version of You Don't Know Jack. Also unlike San Jose, that first encore set ended with With or Without You, a welcome classic.

What was not so welcome to me was the final encore, which was composed of exactly the same three songs as the last show we saw: All Because of You, Yahweh and 40. All Because of You rocked, Yahweh didn't (due to an acoustic arrangement I wasn't particularly fond of) but had an extraordinary animated video. It feels a little wrong to complain about them, since they are all very spiritual (guess who the 'You' in All Because of You is...) but knowing that they have been performing songs I've never heard live before at other concerts on this leg made the final set disappointing. Sure enough, the very next night at Oakland they played Fast Cars, Gloria and The First Time.

Overall, the concert was great. It was much improved from the show we saw in San Jose from both a musical and visual standpoint. In addition, the sound quality in the Oakland Arena was far clearer than the HP Pavilion. Although I would've liked to hear a few different songs, the arc and flow of those chosen was nearly perfect. The Vertigo tour is an excellent blend of many of their former tours. Rather than putting together something completely original, they've picked bits and pieces of each to create a new tour that not only showcases the songs from their newest album, but also blends in two decades of other U2 songs. And after seven months, they've really got their act together.

Related: San Jose Mercury News Review | liveDaily Photo Gallery

More Than Meets the Eye: Star Wars Transformers

The power of the Force meets the power of the Allspark with a new assortment of Star Wars vehicles from Hasbro that are actually robots in disguise. Star Wars Transformers combine the classic characters and vehicles from a galaxy far, far away and transforms them into mighty mechs with seamless Star Wars alt-modes.

The official Superman Returns web site launched with a story synopsis, small collection of photos, downloadable items, etc.

A Spider-Man 3 Villain Revealed

Thomas Haden Church as Flint Marko

If you don't recognize him, follow this link.

Due to the special election here in California (another) we've been getting phone calls, knocks on the door, physical mail, and e-mail. When I requested to stop receiving e-mails from one group (two a day is too many) I was taken to a web page that told me:

Um, how did I get on either of these lists?

Disney Online Privacy Policy

macCompanion November 2005

After a long hiatus due to my performance schedule, I've got some new reviews for macCompanion's November issue. One book and one hardware/software product:

• Spring Into HTML and CSS
  There are seemingly two types of computer books available: the giant, thick tomes for geniuses and the thinner books for 'dummies' and 'idiots.' The "Spring Into" series from Addison-Wesley is designed to fall into the middle of those extremes.
  
  
• Instant Music for Mac
  Since the beginning of the digital music revolution, it has been simple to rip CDs into MP3s or other digital music formats. The more difficult task has been converting LPs, 45s and cassette tapes. That task became even more difficult when Apple removed audio-in ports from most Macs. The ADS Tech Instant Music product makes it easy -- almost fun -- to import cassette tapes and other non-digital audio into your Macintosh.

Photo Galleries updated

I added a number of photos to our galleries page lately:

Over the River Act One
These photos show I have an incredible talent: being able to close my eyes for nearly every shot. And I cut out quite a few of the worst offenders.

Over the River Act Two
South Lake Tahoe
These pictures are really late, mainly because they were on a disposable camera that we didn't finish up recently. You might notice by Megan's change of attire that these were two separate trips. No witty captions for these.

A look at McCain's '08 media strategy

McCain is realistic about the topsy-turvy nature of presidential politics, too much so to make any hard and fast predictions. Yes, he conceded, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton was indeed the "odds-on favorite" to seize the Democratic nomination in 2008. "But we all remember Ed Muskie and George Romney," he added.

Actually, no, I don't. As to McCain v. Clinton in '08, that would make the vote very easy for me.

There are a lot of great interviews at SuicideGirls. Two I recommend include these (with some choice quotes).

Danny Elfman

Q: I read how you're not going to work on Spider-Man 3. Do you want to comment on that?

ELFMAN: Let me put it this way, there is no amount of money that anybody could offer me to do Spider-Man 3. I would sooner go back to bussing tables.

Tim Burton

"It's unfortunate that Disney closed down their drawn animation. They made a few drawn movies that weren't too successful and then they go, 'Well that's it, we're going to go to computers.' I think they forget that the reason why computer animated movies are successful is because Pixar made good movies."

UPDATE/CAUTION: I can't recommend the rest of the site, only the interviews area. I didn't note this originally because I thought it might encourage exploration instead of discourage it.

What Would Jesus Blog?

"As Christians today we are embroiled in the argument culture and we have forgotten this one thing: 'Blessed are the peacemakers.' Wouldn't it be nice if we could say we brought a level of civility back to the conversation?"

My Songs, My Format

"One of the problems I see a lot is that people who are using iTunes-iPods have ripped their entire CD collection to the AAC format because that is the default setting in iTunes," said Grahm Skee, who runs the Web site AnythingButiPod.com, in an e-mail interview. "Now they are stuck with a format that can only be played on iPods."

This article is from The New York Times, so you may be prompted to register prior to reading it.

The AAC format, while superior to MP3, has not been adopted by many other digital music players. But it is an open format, not a proprietary one like WMA. The real problem is Protected AAC (and, of course, Protected WMA). I can't listen to any of my U2 songs through our TiVo's Music streaming feature. And instead of making it more accessible, Apple has made things even worse by taking away burning capability from Toast. Their claim that I "own" these tracks is patronizing at best and ridiculous at worst. I can still live with purchasing individual songs for 99¢ but I find little benefit in purchasing full albums when I know I'll have full quality and freedom with a CD. Of course, if the labels continue creating more "copy-protected" CDs, I guess they'll also lose those sales.

Stewart Smith has created his own music video for the haunting song Jed's Other Poem by Grandaddy. It was "programmed in Applesoft II on a 1979 Apple ][+ with 48K of RAM. Seriously." I think anyone who worked or played with an Apple ][ will appreciate it.

7.2MB QuickTime movie

World's Biggest Wi-Fi Cloud over Hermiston

While cities around the country are battling over plans to offer free or cheap internet access, this lonely terrain is served by what is billed as the world's largest hotspot, a wireless cloud that stretches over 700 square miles of landscape so dry and desolate it
could have been lifted from a cowboy tune.

Here's hoping that's the only big cloud over Hermiston that gets national attention.

Edge Comes Knocking

Turns out that playing nightly in the year's most popular rock 'n' roll tour isn't enough to keep a guitarist busy. When he gets back to his hotel after a show, he can often be found flicking open his Mac and writing songs on GarageBand.

Columbia Journalism Review: The Case for Comics Journalism

Now comics, or graphic, journalism is turning up in daily newspapers, where its inherent subjectivity contrasts sharply with the newsroom’s dispassionate prose — another round in the debate over what journalism should be in the twenty-first century.

... the ability to alternate between the realistic and the symbolic, is a major strength of comics journalism. It is also one reason why editors are likely to shy away from it — or, as with the recent newspaper strips, to relegate comics journalism to cultural coverage and human-interest stories. When it comes to the front page, newspapers favor plain language, in part to protect the readers from the seductions of rhetoric, of art. And comics are irreducibly artistic.

Bronfman Fires Back at Apple

The gloves are off in the battle between Apple CEO Steve Jobs and the music industry over the price of downloaded songs.
---
"We are selling our songs through iPod, but we don't have a share of iPod's revenue," [Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr.] said. "We want to share in those revenue streams."

The music industry didn't create iTunes, they didn't create the iPod, and they didn't create the iTunes Music Store. They don't pay any money to maintain the store (which certainly requires a lot of bandwidth), don't pay any money for manufacturing or duplication, and they get 70 percent of every purchase made. Could anyone be making more money for less effort? And now they want to get royalties on the iPod?

PC Magazine columnist John C. Dvorak has some good thoughts on this at The New Music Download Battle

Jim Henson, Muppets, get stamps of approval

Lisa Henson characterized the stamps as fitting her father's sense of humor. "We are honored that the U.S. Postal Service chose to recognize our father's legacy with this fun and irreverent stamp collection - a perfect reflection of his inspired silliness and creativity."
---
When applied to a white envelope, each of the individually photographed Muppet stamps appear to burst through.
---
The back of each stamp sheet features humorous autographed notes from each of the Muppet characters.

Conan to Turn Entire Show Over to U2

NEW YORK - In his 12 years in charge of booking musical guests on Conan O'Brien's "Late Night," Jim Pitt always listed U2 and Johnny Cash as the dream artists he'd tried but never succeeded in getting.

U2's Opening Acts

Opening acts for U2 on their 2005 Vertigo tour in Europe were a veritable who's who of our favorite current artists:

• Snow Patrol
  
• Doves
  
• Interpol
  
• The Killers
  
• Starsailor
  
• Keane
  
• Franz Ferdinand
  
• Kaiser Chiefs

So Megan and I were looking forward to finding out who would open for them when they returned to the U.S. and played the Oakland Arena (which is listed on the tour schedule as being located in San Francisco. Boy, even with an NFL franchise, Oakland gets no respect.)

Their opening acts surrounding the Oakland show were announced as being:

• Dashboard Confessional
  
• Keane
  
• Arcade Fire
  
• Patti Smith
  
• Kanye West (in Salt Lake City, no less!)

And then ...

U2 taps Kanye West, Arcade Fire, others to open fall shows

(Damian) Marley takes on the lion's share of shows; the son of reggae legend Bob Marley links up with U2 in Philadelphia on Oct. 16, and remains on board through Nov. 9.

Even though I set my expectations low, I did not consider reggae. Well, at least we got to see Kings of Leon open for them back in April.

The Radio

I recorded two radio promotions for "Over the River and Through the Woods" - one is a 60-second commercial with June Spencer, who plays my grandmother Emma. The other is a 30-second Public Service Announcement. Enjoy!

:60 Radio Spot 986KB
:30 PSA 445KB

Stockton Civic serves up fine family comedy

Lydia Maria Child's familiar poem "Over the River and Through the Wood" conjures up happy visions of holiday sleigh rides to Grandma and Grandpa's house. But Stockton Civic Theatre's family comedy "Over the River and Through the Woods" has less to do with Currier and Ives Christmas-card perfection and more to do with angst-peppered sitcom.

Accent on family

Joe DiPietro set out to tell a region-specific story in his play "Over the River and Through the Woods."

It's one close to his heart as well, as the New Jersey-raised, Italian-American playwright wrote a script about a New Jersey-raised, Italian-Amercan (sic) marketing director whose grandparents scheme to keep him from taking a job in Seattle.

I had a hard time finding a single paragraph of this story to include in this post, since I have serious issues with the author's assumptions and conclusions. I don't know that even those two sentences above are true. It reads as if he talked to the author, but I'm pretty sure he did not.

Oh, and including the time of the performances would've been nice, too.

But Wait, There's More...

There on your screen playing the title role of Lieutenant Colonial James Doolittle, is none other than San Joaquin Delta College faculty member John White.

John White was the the lighting and set designer for "Man of La Mancha" (and was nominated for two Elly Awards). He also starred in The Front Page as Walter Burns, although I didn't share a single scene with him.

The "Doolittle's Daring Raid" episode of Man, Moment, Machine will re-air Saturday, September 24 at 2:00 p.m. EST.

The Elly Awards

Being involved in the production of "Man of La Mancha" at San Joaquin Delta College was reward enough. But I got a surprise today that made it even more rewarding. I was informed that I was nominated for a 2005 Elly Award. Sadly, I did not even know what the Elly Awards were. But I discovered they are put on by the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance (SARTA). And upon searching the PDF of the nominations I found myself in the Supporting Actor: Musical category. Other "Man of La Mancha" nominations in the musical category include:

• Supporting Actress - Nicole Halberg
  
• Lighting Design - John White
  
• Set Design - John White
  
• Overall Production

The Award Ceremony will be held Sunday, September 25th at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento. Dunno if I can go, since I'll have a performance earlier that day and tickets might not still be available. But like they say, it's an honor just to be nominated.

Amazon Marketplace

Selling things on eBay takes effort. I have a lot of items sitting around that I kept thinking I'd auction off on eBay as soon as I had the time to devote to doing so. Ha. So I was definitely intrigued when I read you can sell items on Amazon.com in their Marketplace. What makes it incredibly easy is that Amazon already has the product page with pictures, specs, user reviews, etc., so you don't have to do a lot of work. You basically just hit the 'Sell Yours Here' button instead of the 'Add to Cart' button.

In the last ten days, I've put ten items up for sale and have already sold five of them. Impressive. Granted, I usually undercut everyone else's price, but those things were just sitting in our home taking up space. Plus, I don't have to deal with the buyer AT ALL, which can be a major headache on eBay. This is the kind of thing I'd write a column about for the East Oregonian if they still had room for me (and I still had time to write for them). It's been less than two weeks, too, so my opinion could change later.

The drawbacks are that Amazon's shipping credit is pretty measly and they take a larger cut of the sale than eBay. But that seems only fair, since, again, I didn't have to write any information about the product or post pictures. Of course, you can only sell items that Amazon is aware of, so that limits you to the last decade of CDs, DVDs, books, computer software/hardware, etc.

I've put a link to the list of items I'm selling in the right-hand column of this page, but please don't judge.

Was it something I said?

I got an e-mail today from EarthLink noting:

We're writing to let you know that your free EarthLink Web site
http://home.earthlink.net/~meged has reached 75% of its monthly traffic
limit of 1GB.

Checking out the provided monthly traffic reporting tool, I see the following graph for 2005:

What place does pure evil have in films?

In a time of dismay and dread, is it admirable for filmmakers to depict pure evil? Have 9/11, suicide bombers, serial killers and kidnappings created a world in which the response of the artist must be nihilistic and hopeless?

An introspective response by film critic Roger Ebert. He gets more space than usual to tackle this interesting topic, and to good result.

San Diego Comic-Con photos

I uploaded some photos from our time spent at San Diego Comic-Con last month. We also went to some other places in San Diego, and we should soon have those photos posted.

What? A long blog post about our entire trip? Believe me, I'd love to, but I've gotta memorize a few lines...
http://homepage.mac.com/ehargreaves/PhotoAlbum33.html

Museum exhibits a creationist viewpoint

"If we lose Genesis as a legitimate scientific and historical explanation for man, then we lose the validity of Christianity. Period."

Why does a rock star get it right and this guy get it so wrong? God's love is not contingent on whether or not dinosaurs were on Noah's Ark.

Over the River and Through the Woods

A more detailed page has been posted to the Stockton Civic Theatre's web site.

Over the River and Through the Woods abounds in love, guilt, matchmaking, unsolicited advice, and endless offers of food. With his parents retired and moved to Florida, Nick, a single Italian-American guy from New Jersey, keeps family ties by seeing both sets of grandparents every Sunday for dinner. But the family routine is upset when Nick announces that he's been offered his dream job. The job he has been waiting for - a marketing executive - would take him way from his beloved, but annoying, grandparents to the other side of the country. Thus begins a series of schemes to keep Nick around. How could he betray his family's love to move to Seattle for a job, wonder his grandparents? Well, Frank and Aida and Nunzio and Emma do their best, and that includes bringing to dinner the lovely, and single, Caitlin O'Hara as bait.

The show features a special $10 per seat public preview on Wednesday, September 7, 2005 at 7:30 p.m. An opening night reception will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 9. Performances continue through October 1 on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors, $15 for students, and $8 for children 12 and under.

The theatre is located at 2312 Rose Marie Lane, Stockton. For tickets, contact Stockton Civic Theatre’s Box Office Tuesday through Friday, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. at (209) 473-2424.

Microsoft frowned at for smiley patent

"I would have expected to see something like this suggested by one of our more immature community members as a joke on Slashdot, and probably would have chuckled at the absurdity of the notion. We now appear to be living in a world where even the most laughable paranoid fantasies about commercially controlling simple social concepts are being outdone in the real world by well-funded armies of lawyers on behalf of some of the most powerful companies on the planet."

™ Microsoft Co.

WB Waxes the Frog

The WB has fired Michigan J. Frog, the nattily attired singing-dancing 'toon that's served as mascot since the network's inception in 1995.

Okay

The (Television Critics Association) members, usually a hard-boiled bunch, uttered a collective sad sigh.

Um, Why?

Jinxed computer users might be sending out a bad vibe

"There are some people who seem to have a natural rapport with computers and other complex machines, and there are other people who seem to manage to break everything even without touching it..."

Hillary vs. the Xbox: Game over

I'd like to draw your attention to another game whose nonstop violence and hostility has captured the attention of millions of kids — a game that instills aggressive thoughts in the minds of its players, some of whom have gone on to commit real-world acts of violence and sexual assault after playing. I'm talking, of course, about high school football.

I'm no fan of the Grand Theft Auto series, but Hillary Clinton needs to be taken to task for trying to get on a moral high ground while at the same time wasting $90 million. She says she's on the side of families, but really she's on the side of families who purchase M-rated computer games for their children. Prior to the revelation of previously-unknown pornographic material in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the game was labeled as containing Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, and Use of Drugs. So, basically, Hillary wants the vote of bad parents. Unfortunately, it seems to be a large constituency.

Bono gives an explicit confession of being saved by Grace, not Karma

Is Bono, the lead singer and songwriter for the rock group U2, a Christian? He says he is and writes about Christianity in his lyrics. Yet many people question whether Bono is 'really' a Christian, due to his notoriously bad language, liberal politics, and rock star antics (though he has been faithfully married for 23 years). But in a new book of interviews, "Bono in Conversation by Michka Assayas," Bono, though using some salty language, makes an explicit confession of faith.

Though not entirely original, this is one of the best explanations of God, Jesus and Christianity and puts the lie to the secular wisdom that 'all religions are the same.' Christians that criticize Bono for using swear words should be pulling the plank out of their own eyes rather than notifying everyone of the speck in his.