The Lame Show: Episode 31

Recorded on Saturday, edited & posted on Sunday and blogged about Monday. Now that's more like it. Here's the fun Episode 31, wherein Ray, Noah and I debate summer movies.

Summer Wonders & Blunders

Ray from 2Pstart.com returns to debate the 2008 summer movie season with Eddie & Noah. You'll be SHOCKED to hear what they aren't looking forward to.

But first is the Lame List, featuring a summer movie that's already been released, a Nintendo accessory that isn't living up to its potential and perennial favorite Microsoft for Windows Se7en.

Picks for this episode include the 'Siskel & Ebert' of music podcasts, a music album that only Ray could recommend and the answer to the question 'Where does Eddie get his wonderful shirts?'

Speaking of which, do you want to buy a 'The Lame Show' T-Shirt? E-mail us at thelameshow@gmail.com

Episode 31.m4a (50:18)
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Roger Ebert admits: I loved 'Indy'

I read this post from Ebert's journal prior to seeing the movie and read his review after seeing the movie. I recommend reading them in that order and agree wholeheartedly with both.

The Lame Show: Episode 30

I forgot to post a blog item about this when it happened, but Noah and I recorded another podcast episode back on May 17 (published May 24). We got some positive feedback about reversing the order of the show, so now it's permanently reversed for your listening pleasure.

The New Forward

Backward is now the new forward, so things kick off with The Lame List. NBC is the target of ire this episode, for differing reasons.

Then Eddie and Noah both go back 10 years for their fruity picks.

News items discussed include the sellout of WWDC, rumors of the next generation iPhone and how well Blu-ray players are selling (not!). Does it relate to gas prices? Will anyone give a penny a day so Eddie can get an iPhone? Will college students pay back their loans?

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Apple and Eve

LOS ANGELES (Fortune) -- In Pixar Films' upcoming animation epic, "Wall-E," the title character is a cute but clunky robot whose centuries of solitude on an abandoned Earth is broken by the arrival of a svelte, futuristic robot named Eve - who is so white, gleaming, and well, pod-like, that she looks like she was born in Apple's design room. It turns out that she was - sort of ...

2P START! Live!

I had the opportunity to appear on the latest episode of the 2P START! podcast. I had a good time recording it and, judging by the comments, it was a welcome addition for the listeners. Enjoy 30 minutes and 16 seconds of fun!

m4a: Listen or Subscribe
mp3: Listen or Subscribe

Subscribe in iTunes

Free Dr. Pepper? Probably not until 2010

I'm catching up on a few news items I missed over the past few months and even though this one's a little old, it's probably never going to be too old, considering how long this album has been 'in the works.'

Free Dr Pepper For "Chinese Democracy"

Dr Pepper is offering everyone in the country a free soda if Axl Rose releases the album he has been recording for 17 years, "Chinese Democracy," anytime this year, according to a press release.

I like how you can predict when the album will be released and one of the choices is "the day after you die."

Professional movie critics disappearing

I don't typically link to company blogs, but I thought this post for Fandango was interesting:

Disappearing Movie Critics

The Interent has made film criticism the ultimate democracy, and overall, that's great. With sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, and our own fan ratings and user reviews, consumers can quickly and easily find out the critical consensus, the word on the street, and how a movie played at preview screenings.

But it's still sad to see so many seasoned critics, with their unique writing styles and opinions, being lost in the shuffle.

I guess that's an industry I'm glad I didn't get into.

The 'real' crystal skulls

Real-life skull worship inspires new 'Indy' film

PALENQUE, Chiapas (AP) — There is a legend that the ancient Maya possessed 13 crystal skulls which, when united, hold the power of saving the Earth — a tale so strange and fantastic that it inspired the latest Indiana Jones movie.

I'm already liking the new movie's MacGuffin more than Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's Sankara Stones, which few (or zero) teams remembered correctly at last year's museum trivia night.

Childless men still children

Child-Man in the Promised Land

We can argue endlessly about whether “masculinity” is natural or constructed—whether men are innately promiscuous, restless, and slobby, or socialized to be that way—but there’s no denying the lesson of today’s media marketplace: give young men a choice between serious drama on the one hand, and Victoria’s Secret models, battling cyborgs, exploding toilets, and the NFL on the other, and it’s the models, cyborgs, toilets, and football by a mile. For whatever reason, adolescence appears to be the young man’s default state, proving what anthropologists have discovered in cultures everywhere: it is marriage and children that turn boys into men.

Clearly some publisher needs to create a video game combining models, cyborgs, toilets and football.

'Forum' review

The review is now online and it's a good one, indeed. But if you don't want a funny plot surprise ruined prior to seeing the show, don't read it yet!

Farcical 'Forum' tickles the ribs

San Joaquin Delta College's drama program is offering a colorful, cartoon-styled farce that's a tickle-your-ribs kind of funny. It's a production of Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart's 1962 musical comedy "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," with an emphasis on the comedy.

'Forum' preview article

It took me five days to find this article on The Record's web site. Hopefully I can find the review (which was published today) quicker than that. Victor took a great photo and it's too bad it's not in color on the site.

Cast faces comic challenges in Delta College's staging of 'Forum'

Last fall, Chris Hayhurst tackled the title role in San Joaquin Delta College's wildly zany production of Moliere's "Scapino." At the time, he described the part as perhaps the most physically demanding of his young career.

Free Comic Books this Saturday

Free Comic Book Day is a single day when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their stores. Click below for more information.

Show Lame The

Noah and I reversed the order of the podcast this episode, in the hopes that those of you who haven't been able to make it to the end of the previous episodes will see what you're missing. Perhaps it'll become the new format for good! Let us know what you think by e-mailing thelameshow@gmail.com

Backwards

Everything is backwards in this episode! Instead of being near the end, the Lame List is first, highlighting 'the worst' newspaper tech columnist and Microsoft accidentally letting one of its beta products expire without explanation.

Picks of the Week immediately follow, featuring some casual work-delaying games and an audiobook of a classic novel made into a major motion picture last Christmas.

Finishing things up are some news topics, such as the Safari web browser for Windows and the iTunes Store becoming the No. 1 Music Retailer (above Wal-Mart).

Episode 29.m4a (52:31)
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Star Wars Muppet figures

Based on the classic 1980 episode of The Muppet Show and a later serial in Muppet Magazine (which I'm pretty sure I had), Star Wars Muppet figures are due out this summer exclusively at Disney theme parks.

Star Wars Muppets Coming Soon

Buffy meets Fray in July

On sale July 2, 2008, is Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #16, featuring the first meeting of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Fray the Future Slayer. You can catch an exclusive first look at myspace.com/comicbooks

The Lame Show: Episode 28

Noah and I are back for another episode of our podcast and I'd describe this latest one as 'back to basics.' No guests or listener questions (not that I dislike either of those), just the two of us sharing our frustrations with the wonders of modern technology.

Late to Leopard

Noah has returned from New York City, where he purchased Leopard from the city's famed Apple Store. Now that both he and Eddie have upgraded, they compare notes on the latest update to Mac OS X and iLife.

Another of Noah's New York purchases figures into the Lame List nominations, as does an application that doesn't play nice with the big cat.

Top picks for this episode include an excellent To Do list application and some music to listen to while you're doing those to's.

Episode 28-1.m4a (56:46)
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Update: A user error (mine) left the original version of this episode with some phantom audio. If you experienced that, please re-download the audio file.

WonderCon 2008 - Masquerade

I didn't get a great seat for this year's Masquerade, so the videos I took were not as good as last year's. But looking at last year's videos, I confirmed that this year's entries simply weren't as good. There were approximately 30 entries and only a handful were entertaining. I've only posted three (I think they all won awards).

I'm not too familiar with who all these people are, but anyone that's played a Zelda game probably knows them. It was still pretty funny to me. Oh, and it features the same kid who played Link last year.


Some costumes can be made, others have to be 'built'


If you know who these guys are, you'll probably love this as much as I did. If you don't, I'm sorry for you. And if you can't understand what they're saying due to the crowd noise, there's a better clip elsewhere on YouTube.

WonderCon 2008 - Wall•E

The Disney hour began with a look at the upcoming The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The trailer was not yet finished at that time, so some centaurs were just people with long green stockings. It was mildly entertaining (certainly more than the Shutter segment) but I was more interested in the latter half of the hour, focusing on Pixar's upcoming film, Wall•E. Director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) presented a number of clips that were very entertaining. He also answered a few questions like 'If the movie has no dialogue, will John Ratzenberger be in it?' and 'Where will the Pizza Planet delivery truck be?'

Wall•E Director Andrew Stanton at WonderCon 2008

WonderCon 2008 - Return of The X-Files

One of the most well-attended sessions of Saturday, Feb. 23, was for the 20th Century Fox horror thriller Shutter. Why? Because you had to sit through that in order to see The X-Files stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, creator-director-writer-producer Chris Carter and writer-producer Frank Spotnitz. They had been shooting the second motion picture the previous night and flew in to make an appearance and talk with the fans. The excitement in Hall A could not have been much higher and the foursome didn't disappoint, providing a charming, funny and insightful Q&A segment.

The X-Files 2 Panel at WonderCon Pt. 1


The X-Files 2 Panel at WonderCon Pt. 2


The X-Files 2 Panel at WonderCon Pt. 3


The X-Files 2 Panel at WonderCon Pt. 4

WonderCon 2008 part 1

A month's gone by since WonderCon 2008 took place in San Francisco and I've finally had the chance to upload some of the video I took to my YouTube Channel.

The first session I attended (did not record) was the 10,000 B.C. Q&A with director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) and stars Steven Strait and Camilla Belle. Emmerich has a strong (German? Austrian?) accent, so he sounds a bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger. The funniest part was when an audience member asked how historically accurate the film was and Emmerich, referring to the extended clip just shown answered "As you can see, It's nawt a dockumentaree" (imagine it in the 'It's not a tumor' voice). I've since seen the film and can assure you it's more a comedy (not on purpose).

The real reason I attended that session was just to have a decent seat (mission not accomplished) for the following Get Smart session featuring stars Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway and director Peter Segal. In case you don't know, Steve Carell is a huge star, especially among this crowd, but also a genuinely funny person. Although both he and Anne were a bit taken aback by the audience, they had a really great Q&A, which naturally drifted into talk about The Office.

Steve Carell & Anne Hathaway at WonderCon Part 1


Steve Carell & Anne Hathaway at WonderCon Part 2


Steve Carell & Anne Hathaway at WonderCon Part 3

The Lame Show: Episode 27

Things are a little different for this episode because I upgraded to a new version of iWeb and it decided to change the layout of the site and files, probably breaking links, etc.

Invaded by a PC 'mindset'

PC guy Chris Gauthier visits The Lame Show to discuss with Noah and Eddie the supposed 'Mac Mindset' of superiority, iPhones being hacked around the world and the superiority of the Amazon MP3 store over the iTunes store. He also details a Linux-based home media centre.

Their top picks this episode include the most well-written movie of 2007, a newly-released animation effort and a way to learn new languages via an online social network.

Lame List nominations include both Apple and Microsoft, plus a subpar projector.

Episode 27.m4a (1:04:10)
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The Black Crowes attack Maxim mag review

The Black Crowes are lashing out at Maxim magazine for reviewing the band's new album — apparently without actually hearing it first.

New Guitar Hero gives sweet emotion to Aerosmith fans

Activision Inc on Friday unveiled a new "Guitar Hero" video game focusing on the rock band Aerosmith, taking the billion-dollar franchise in a new direction.

I'd prefer it be focused on U2, but I'll settle for near-perfection.

THX Trailers

The Story of "Deep Note"

The famous THX crescendo, Deep Note, is like no other audio mark in the world. But where did it come from?

Too bad they left out the Simpsons version.

(Via Coudal)

The Lame Show: Episode 26

Games & Phones, Hold the Apple

Tim from 2P START! visits to discuss the Nintendo Wii, XBox 360, LG Voyager and Microsoft's $44B offer to purchase Yahoo!

Lame List nominations include certain aspects of the aforementioned Voyager, the new American Gladiators and the Dept. of Homeland Security.

Picks of the Week include a music podcast, a movie on DVD and a movie in 3D.

Episode 26.m4a (59:29)
The Lame Show on iTunes

Sawyer's Nickname Generator

Ever wonder what Sawyer would call you if you were stranded on the island with him? Visit Sawyer's Nickname Generator and be mildly unimpressed. Unfortunately, the generator doesn't seem to be as up to the task as Sawyer (or, more accurately, his writers). For instance, my nickname was "Huckleberry Pinhead." I guess the pinhead part is because I'm kinda smart and the huckleberry because I'm a willing helper...? Sawyer's nicknames are usually one word, like Freckles, Hoss or Chewbacca. Huckleberry Pinhead?

Good Day Sacramento

I appeared on Good Day Sacramento yesterday to promote the opening of the museum's current special exhibition Port of Stockton: Diamond of the Delta.

I don't have my own recording of it, because it was supposed to air during the 7 a.m. block, not the 8 a.m. block, and TiVo thought maybe I'd want to see the 8 a.m. airing of Charmed. Thankfully, CBS13 has a video library online where you can watch segments. So I had the opportunity to actually watch and see what the viewers saw.

I'm really not the best person to talk about it, but I was the only one available due to scheduling issues. Also, keep in mind that while it's going on, I generally have no idea what viewers are seeing on the screen nor when I'm being spoken to over-the-air versus behind-the-scenes. Oh, and my earpiece kept cutting out, so on at least one occasion my silence is due to my trying to piece together the question. I know, excuses, excuses...

Port of Stockton Historical Exhibit On Display

How to succeed in business

A computer shop's sales pitch: 'We remove Vista'

"Of all the signs we put up there the last two years, at least, we probably got the most response out of that one. A lot of people coming in."

(Via The Raw Feed)

Trees review

If you take the 'explain purpose, list pros & cons, give final verdict' format of electronics reviews and apply it to naturally existing creations, you end up with this funny piece:

Trees Reviewed

Trees. It seems like you see them everywhere these days. But are trees viable in the long-term, or just another flash-in-the-pan fad for the under-30 crowd?

Netscape pronounced dead

The Browser That Started it All Dies a Quiet Death

It birthed the web as we know it. But tomorrow, February 1, marks the demise of Netscape Navigator, the first commercial web browser.

In my opinion, Netscape Navigator died when it became the bloated monstrosity known as Netscape Communicator and users actually tried to downgrade from version 4 back to 3. But that image above does make me shed a tear of nostalgia.

Stockton featured on 60 Minutes

House Of Cards: The Mortgage Mess

In the last six months, Americans have seen their investments shrink, their property values plummet, and the country edge closer towards a recession. At the heart of the problem is something called the subprime mortgage crisis, which began last summer and continues to ricochet through the economy.

And as correspondent Steve Kroft reports, it started in places like Stockton, Calif.

It's always great to ask people 'Did you see my city on 60 Minutes last night?! They said we're ground zero for the current financial crisis and a microcosm of everything that went wrong!'

Hellboy II trailer and stills

Check out the trailer and movie stills for the upcoming motion picture Hellboy II: The Golden Army, directed by Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) and starring Ron Perlman. The film is set for release on July 11, 2008. Although I'm unfamiliar with the story, it looks like the character of Johann Kraus (my favorite) will be in the movie.

Sonic is Pilate?

Being involved in community theatre is generally a lot of work with little reward. But there are some perks. Juliet Heller, who performed a stellar Marian in The Music Man, invited her fellow castmates to see her in a preview performance of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Willows Theatre in Concord. And provided we brought a program from a show we performed in, we received free admission. That's a $27 savings, folks.

It was a great production and although I didn't know any of the other actors, I read in the program biographies that Pontius Pilate was played by Ryan Drummond, who has a lot of stage and screen credits, but is "most widely known as the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog for Sega Gaming Corp. from 1998-2004."

The Lame Show: Episode 25

Predictions Wrong, Right, Left

Noah and Eddie see how successful and unsuccessful their Macworld Expo predictions turned out. And make their feelings known regarding the new products announced. Did one of them make the Lame List?

Picks of the Week include an avocado CD and a super DVD.

The burning questions are asked: Could a woman pick up a guy using a MacBook Air? Are optical discs really going away? When will we see wireless electricity? Whatever happened to flannel?

Episode 25.m4a (55:45)
The Lame Show on iTunes

umscranble

If you can successfully unscramble the words below, you'll win a prize:

tmshyueir - dsneoc aym

Free over-the-air TV to change

The Unavoidable Update

In February 2009, most TV stations will quit broadcasting analog TV signals over the air, and older sets will go blank. Remarkably, half of the country does not realize a changeover is coming.

I also get the feeling that many people do not understand what's going to happen or why, in regards to over-the-air TV. If you're one of those people, read this article and feel informed. But come February 2009, don't say you weren't warned.

Macworld 2008 recap

I've posted a summary of my Macworld 2008 trip at The Apple Blog. Hopefully it'll be the first of many more articles to come.

Reflections on another Tuesday at Macworld

This is the fifth year I’ve attended Macworld Expo on the day of the keynote, and it definitely wasn’t as exciting as 2007. But after last year’s introduction of the long-rumored iPhone, how could it be?

Of course, another big difference is that I didn’t get into the keynote this year. There’s always a disconnect between those who attend the keynote and those who don’t.

The Lame Show: Episode 24

This episode is the longest the show's been in a while, but that's because it's chock full of stuff.

Macworld Predictions & Mail

One of the most (seemingly) useless kitchen items ever is featured in the SkyMall Selection. Then a listener's submitted audio question about photo albums is discussed.

With Steve Jobs' Macworld Expo keynote just around the corner, Eddie and Noah round up the rumors to see which seem likely or impossible. Plus they make their own crazy predictions.

Another gadget web site and a wireless ISP are added to the Lame List. Picks of the Week include a Transformers album you probably don't know about and a DVD set you should get.

Episode 24.m4a (1:17:50)
The Lame Show on iTunes

Literally

The word 'literally' is supposed to mean 'in a literal, not exaggerated sense,' but in recent years has been used for effect specifically in a non-literal context. For example: Instead of saying 'it was so hot outside you could fry an egg on the sidewalk,' someone will say 'it was so hot outside you could literally fry an egg on the sidewalk' to that someone I might say 'I am literally going to punch you in the face.' Guess which one of those two sentences used the word correctly?

Finally, someone is documenting all the improper uses of the word at Literally, A Web Log

Zoo Station (and Dalton Brothers) at Slim's

Zoo Station (The Complete U2 Experience!) commemorated the 20th Anniversary of The Joshua Tree Saturday night by performing the entire album live (in order) Saturday night to a sell-out crowd at Slim's. It was actually more fun than I expected, and that was just the first half of their show. During the second half they ran through a set of hits including "Elevation," "Out of Control/Blitzkrieg Bop," "The Fly," "Pride," and "Bad."

The opening act was Culann's Hounds, which blend traditional Irish music with punk rock. They were much more fun than I imagined. Because I certainly never imagined "What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor" in the same set as "I Wanna Be Sedated." And never have I seen a button accordion rocked so hard. Or rocked at all.

But prior to Culann's Hounds performance was a set by The Dalton Brothers and I'm glad I didn't miss it. For a brief history: during the Joshua Tree Tour, U2 donned wigs and costumes and opened up some of their own shows as a country/western act called The Dalton Brothers, consisting of Luke, Duke, Betty and Alton Dalton (YouTube Video).

So Zoo Station did the same, for apparently this one show, and it was way more entertaining than I figured a band pretending to be U2 pretending to be a country/western band could be (expectations exceeded on three levels). Not only did they perform some country/western tunes like "King of the Road" and "Lucille" they also performed some songs U2 wrote for legends Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash ("Mystery Girl" and "The Wanderer," respectively).

A long evening, but totally worth it.

Stockton at the center of housing crash

City of debt shows US housing woe

The city of Stockton in California is at the centre of the mortgage crisis now sweeping America.

Because, with house prices tumbling, more people in Stockton face the repossession of their homes than anywhere else in the US.

But Stockton is also a place where you can really get a feel for the staggering amounts of money banks loaned during the boom - with few or no questions asked.

The most illuminating article I've read about this crisis has been written by the BBC (that's why center is spelled centre).

Vanity Fair covers Indy 4

Keys to the Kingdom

Between them, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have made 13 of the 100 top-grossing movies of all time. Yet they struggled for more than a decade with the upcoming fourth installment of their billion-dollar Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Annie Leibovitz gets exclusive access to the set, while Lucas, Spielberg, and their star, Harrison Ford, tell Jim Windolf about the long standoff over the plot, why critics and fans will be upset, and how they’ve updated Indy.

I had to skip a few paragraphs. Watch for the spoiler warnings.

The Lame Show: Episode 23

This was recorded post-Christmas, pre-New Year's, but I wasn't able to edit it together until now.

Christmas Cheers & Jeers

While Noah takes an episode off for Christmas/New Year's vacation, Ray from 2PStart.com steps in to help Eddie share some Holiday Cheers and Jeers.

But before they share their most and least favorite Christmas gifts, there is some news to discuss: the rumored arrival of movie rentals on the iTunes store; the closure of Wal-Mart's video download store; games on the iPod.

And don't forget the SkyMall Selection ... this one's got wheels.

Episode 23.m4a (36:48)
The Lame Show on iTunes

THE DARK KNIGHT: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE -- JULY 18, 2008

THE DARK KNIGHT: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE, from Warner Bros. Pictures, will feature four sequences filmed with IMAX® cameras. This marks the first time ever that a major feature film has been even partially shot using IMAX cameras, marking a revolutionary integration of the two film formats.

Happy Holidays, Star Wars style

30 Years of Star Wars Holiday Cards from Lucasfilm

starwars.com is taking a look back at the last 30 years of Lucasfilm's holiday company cards and pulling out those examples which include a Star Wars theme.

It seems like a great pair of ornaments could be made based on the image above.

The Lame Show: Episode 22

This is probably the last podcast with Noah and I for this year...

Year in Review

If you haven't finished your Christmas shopping, be sure to listen to the SkyMall Selection at the beginning.

Then it's on to the Year in Review: iPhone, Vista, Nintendo Wii, unprotected music... What's the verdict at the end of 2007?

The Lamest of the Year are revealed and neither will surprise you if you listened to just two previous episodes. Also, the Picks of the Year. Do you really want this description to give it all away?

Episode 22.m4a (55:57)
The Lame Show on iTunes

Harry Potter is the new Star Wars

Parallels Between Star Wars and Harry Potter

To the casual viewer, Luke Skywalker and Harry Potter hail from vastly different realities. Whereas Harry's is a hidden Earth community in which the Renaissance never ended and magical creatures abound, Luke's story is set in a galaxy far, far away, filled with spaceships, aliens and other trappings traditional to science fiction.

A keen eye, however, will notice a surprising number of similarities between the mythos, in terms of theme, plot, characterization and even nomenclature.

I noticed quite a few similarities between the most recent Harry Potter film (now available on DVD!) and The Empire Strikes Back (excuse me, Episode V). Great films each.

10 Unlikely Unleashed Figures

The extremely-detailed Star Wars Unleashed collection from Hasbro shows compelling characters of the saga at their most electrifying moments.

But what about the unsung heroes of the saga -- the bartenders, the clumsy power droids, the fruit stand vendors and librarians -- where are their Unleashed tributes?

This is hilarious stuff if you recognize any of these characters. And it will reward those who have seen The Battle for Endor and (shudder!) the Star Wars Holiday Special.

Cox Across America

John C. Reilly to tour as Dewey Cox character from film

Actor John C. Reilly will blur the lines between reality and Hollywood fantasy when he takes his alter-ego, mythical rock icon Dewey Cox, out on the road this month.

In a star turn worthy of fake British heavy metal superstars Spinal Tap, Reilly will perform live in seven cities over the next few weeks as his movie character Cox, as featured in the upcoming Judd Apatow-produced comedy "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story."

Don't bother clicking the Buy Tickets links, as it appears that all seven concerts are already sold out.

The Lame Show: Episode 21

This episode is a bit later than planned, but I think it was worth the wait. We are continuing to make small improvements based on feedback and our own expectations.

Duty Free

After an extended break, Eddie takes over the Mexico Moment and presides over the return of the SkyMall Selection.

Then it's off to the big topics: Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and Amazon's new electronic book device, Kindle. GarageBand and Adobe are nominated to the Lame List. And Vector Magic and Mad Men are commended as Picks of the Week.

The truly burning questions are asked: Should James Patterson paperbacks be duty free? Was the Mac Plus attractive or ugly? Is a Roomba necessary or just cool? Is Adobe more famous as a software company or a building material?

Episode 21.m4a (55:15)
The Lame Show on iTunes

macCompanion December 2007 review

SimpleDrive Deluxe

With the introduction of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and its spiffy new automated backup feature, Time Machine, external hard drives are even more important than ever. And SimpleTech has an attractive line in the SimpleDrive, ranging in capacity from 250GB to 1000GB (1 terabyte!).

Return of Goofy shorts

Goofy Hooks Up with National Treasure Sequel

Instead of opening with Enchanted on Nov. 21, the new 2D Goofy short from Walt Disney Animation Studios, How to Hook Up your Home Theater, will make its theatrical debut with National Treasure: Book of Secrets on Dec. 21.

It's disappointing this didn't screen with Enchanted for a number of reasons. First, it seems a much better fit. I imagine the children I saw it with would've enjoyed it more than the audience for National Treasure 2 might, especially if the latter is as long as I think it'll be. Second, Enchanted performed spectacularly at the box office during the Thanksgiving weekend. And if Disney is as passionate about bringing back animated shorts as they say they are, that was a big opportunity missed.

The Parrot

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious, and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music, and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, John was fed up, and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot, and the parrot got angrier and even ruder. John, in desperation, threw up his hands, grabbed the bird, and put him in the freezer.

For a few minutes, the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said to John, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. Just as he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Marathon 2 on the XBox 360

Postmortem: Freeverse's Marathon 2: Durandal

In the golden days of the mid-90’s, there was only one word worth speaking about games on the Macintosh, and it was "Marathon". Practically everyone who worked extensively with Macs or in an environment with a good number of them on a network knew and loved the game -- a category which includes most Freeverse personnel. When we landed it, we were excited not just for the chance to revisit an old favorite, and not just to port it, but for the chance to truly bring it into the modern era.

How sad is it that this may be the most compelling reason for me to want an XBox 360?

Puffy AmiYumi at Slim's

Three long years after their performance at the Fillmore in San Francisco, Japanese duo Puffy AmiYumi were scheduled to return to the Fillmore during a brief U.S. tour promoting their new album Honeycreeper. And by brief, I mean their tour consisted of five total venues (Puffy AmiYumi creeps around the West). Strangely enough, the venue changed after tickets went on sale and the group instead performed at Slim's, which I've never been to before (although Zoo Station plays there occasionally). It's a much smaller venue than the Fillmore, which meant it was much easier to get close to the stage. I was less than 10 people back from the edge of the stage and I didn't even get there when the doors opened, having driven over from Stockton after work.

American fans are also unlucky because the new album has not been made available for sale here yet. Fortunately, they were selling copies at the show (which were also signed by the duo!). Unfortunately, all of them were sold within 5-10 minutes of the doors opening. If a record label doesn't want to sell the album in the U.S. due to the cost of pressing CDs, at least make it available on the iTunes Store. Sheesh.

As with their previous S.F. show, they rocked. Hard. Even though they're considered a pop group, they rock harder than any American pop stars (and shame most of them). Yet they also played their 'cartoon hits,' like the Teen Titans and Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi themes (which both also rock live). The two took occasional breaks to talk with the audience using English they'd written out on little steno pads; asking if we'd seen their photo in the current GAP campaign and noting how much warmer it was here than in the last two venues (Vancouver and Seattle). The show was a little short for my tastes (only one song in the encore?), especially considering they didn't play a few of my favorites ("Your Love Is A Drug," "Friends Forever," "That's The Way It Is") but they did play a number of songs from Splurge, released last year. But a surprising treat was a blistering cover of Green Day's "Basket Case," with certain song character's genders changed from 'she' to 'he.'

Hopefully they'll be back in the area before another three years goes by. And hopefully I can get a copy of their new album before then.

A Guy Named Joel

Joel Hodgson has spent the past decade behind-the-scenes developing a variety of entertainment projects, but he will soon be returning to the silhouetted spotlight when he and the original cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000 debut an all-new video project, Cinematic Titanic. In preparation for this new venture, Hodgson visited the offices of Lucasfilm, and StarWars.com was granted an exclusive interview.

If you're like me, and remember MST3K with fondness, you'll find this Q&A very interesting. And why isn't Comedy Central or Sci-Fi airing reruns?

Mexi-CO!

Although I uploaded the photos the day after I got back, I just now had the chance to write captions for most of them. Unfortunately, there were quite a few things I didn't get pictures of, such as kayaking, the Día de los Muertos political/musical performance, Santo Coyote restaurant, the boutique hotel and the podcast room. It was a great four days. Gracias, Noah & Megan!

Mexico

Earthquake!

After living down here for nearly five years, I've felt my first California earthquake.

5.6 Earthquake Hits Northern California

A magnitude-5.6 earthquake shook the San Francisco Bay area Tuesday night.

The moderate temblor struck shortly after 8 p.m., about 9 miles northeast of San Jose, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Residents reported feeling the quake, which lasted about a minute, as far east as Sacramento and as far north as Sonoma.

I felt it in Stockton for, oh, about 30-60 seconds. But it seemed like a few minutes at the time.

The Joshua Tree 2007

http://joshuatree.u2.com/

Twenty years after its original release, The Joshua Tree has been remastered for release in a series of special formats. As well as a fourteen track bonus-CD of b-sides and rarities, the 2007 release features a live concert DVD from Paris in 1987, liner notes from band and producers and previously unseen photos in a limited edition booklet.

I'm too new of a U2 fan to remember this album's original release. But its songs are undiminished and the album is worth the special treatment. This remastered anniversary release will have to tide me over until they release a new album (2008?) and then I can look forward to the remastered Achtung Baby! in 2011.

Wallace and Gromit news

A new Wallace and Gromit short film is now in the works (think "The Wrong Trousers and "A Close Shave"). Visit www.wallaceandgromit.com to watch a video interview of Nick Park talking about the new film. Plus, you can enter a contest to win 2 tickets to the premiere.

Interesting Comment

You probably missed this interesting comment because it was posted on Oct. 10 to an entry dated July 7 (thus long gone from the main page)

I am one of 200 volunteers who appeared in the winning Springfield Vermont video. After we helped our local Chamber of Commerce win the contest, they turned their backs on us. We should have been the first in town to be invited to view the world premiere of The Simpsons Movie but instead we were kept off the invitation list so the more elite members of the community could all be invited instead. And then not even a word of thanks or mention of us in the public ceremony outside the theater. Read more and view our famous winning video now at our new website: The Simpsons Springfield Vermont

Speak, Optimus!

Create and send a personalized message from Optimus Prime by visiting
optimus.transformersmovie.com

And by 'from Optimus Prime,' that means it is spoken by Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime. Yes, it's all to promote sales of the Transformers DVD (and HD-DVD) but it's pretty darn fun. Here, listen...

Annie Lennox at Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium

We had a very enjoyable evening last night on San Francisco's Nob Hill. Yeah, it was expensive, what with the $40 for parking, but it was worth it to not park 10 blocks away and walk uphill there and back. And though our seats were only a few rows from the back, we were probably only 50 feet away from the front of the stage. So it was a very intimate, classy venue.

She opened the show with "No More I Love You's," which is not a favorite of mine and, frankly, from her least interesting album. But I recognize it was a pretty big hit for her. I still hear it occasionally in malls and such. Thankfully, it was the only song from that album she performed that night.

She followed it with a few more hits from past albums ("Little Bird," "Walking on Broken Glass," "Pavement Cracks"). Hmmm, four songs into the concert and nothing from the newest album, Songs of Mass Destruction? Maybe the biggest surprise of the show was that she only performed three songs from her just-released effort ("Dark Road," "Smithereens," "Sing"). With most artists, listening to less of their newest work is preferable, but her new album is quite good.

Competing for biggest surprise of the show was how many Eurythmics songs she performed ("Here Comes The Rain Again," "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves," "There Must Be An Angel," "Thorn in My Side," "Sweet Dreams"). A welcome surprise. Clips from the old videos (which I was largely unfamiliar with) played in slow motion on a large screen in the back.

That video screen was also used to play a short movie about her trip to Africa two years ago and the efforts she is involved with now to prevent HIV transmission from mothers to children. (For more information, visit annielennoxsing.com) That type of thing can be preachy and uncomfortable, but the mission can't be disputed and the audience was supportive. Despite that, she was largely unable to get the crowd to sing along with "Sing" directly following that. Bono makes this stuff look easier than it is.

The highlight of the show for me was hearing my favorites from her original solo effort, Diva, such as "Why" and "Cold." It only took me 15 years.

And now for news on another solo artist from a popular '80s band who only releases new albums once in a long while...

Gabriel juggling new album with array of projects

Peter Gabriel has resumed work on his next studio album while juggling an array of other projects.

"There are some (new) things," he told Billboard last Friday in New York. "I've been very good at distraction with some charitable things and some Internet things. But I'm now back in writing mode and I'm very much enjoying that."

The Shins and Shaky Hands

Megan and I saw The Shins Friday at UC Berkeley's cool (figuratively and literally) Greek Theatre. It was a good concert, but they somehow managed to not play the one song from their latest album that is my favorite ("Red Rabbits").


The opening act was the band Shaky Hands, also from Portland. I've been surprised at how good the opening acts have been at most of the concerts we've seen in the past year (with the exception of the Morrissey concert).

Now that Blogger supports embedded video, here's a (very) short movie clip I captured with our digital camera:

The Lame Show: Episode 20

It's probably the best-sounding episode of the podcast we've ever done, thanks to Noah's new headset microphone.

Sounds Good

Music takes center stage in this episode, as Eddie & Noah (with his spiffy, new mic) discuss Microsoft's new Zune models, Amazon's new MP3 downloads, and the first person to take the record companies all the way to trial over illegal music downloading.

Plus, UC Berkeley puts lectures on YouTube, Ask makes new TV commercials and eBay admits its purchase of Skype was a big waste of money.

Lame List nominations include those complaining about the latest iPhone update and the price cut. Picks of the Week include new albums from Annie Lennox and Radiohead.

The truly burning questions are asked: Will those who download music for free be willing to help pay someone else's legal bills? What products could be advertised during online physics lectures? Can owning an iPhone help you get a date?

Episode 20.m4a (1:07:01)

The Lame Show on iTunes

Kidz Bop their way into live arena

The Kidz Bop World Tour will feature six kids and two young adult lead singers performing with a four-piece rock band in theaters and small arenas. The concerts will also spotlight local talent in each town and offer contests, song-voting and other interactive events, according to a press release.

Surely this is the second sign of the apocalypse. I noticed that most of the tour locations so far are in Iowa, Michigan and Ohio. Does that say something about those states? I'm not certain, just asking.

Radiohead fans can pick their price for new album

Radiohead will release a new studio album Oct. 10, and allow fans to pick their own price when ordering the digital-download version of the album, which will be titled "In Rainbows."

But will the digital download be MP3 or some proprietary format like Windows Media?

Transformers IMAX

After a big movie summer, there aren't a lot of good movies released in September. To be more blunt, it's been a real suckfest of a month at the theater. So in our desperation to see a movie, Megan and I saw Transformers again, but the IMAX version. Although I mostly enjoyed the movie originally, and I'm a big fan of the IMAX format, I was wary about spending $30+ on this combination. So imagine my surprise to discover that I actually enjoyed it more than the regular theatrical release. We both agreed that the battle sequences, which were often visually indecipherable in the regular version, were much clearer and enjoyable. And we noticed additional scenes were added. They were all quite brief (only a couple of minutes extra in total), but still fun. And the sound quality was (as always with IMAX) awesome. So if you're just as unexcited with the Sept.-Oct. movies, live near an IMAX theater and don't mind spending a little extra, check it out.

Foreclosures

Stockton is either the No. 1 or No. 2 foreclosure leader of the nation. But a picture is worth a thousand words and I think this picture of the foreclosure listings in our newspaper is just that (literally?)

Cutting-room floor

Although Fighting Port: Stockton in WWII was a very well-made documentary and featured The Haggin Museum prominently, it was missing one thing: my voiceover! Although most people don't recognize their own voice when they hear it played back, I can assure you that it was someone else reading the letters I read. I got positive feedback from the producers, so I will choose to believe that my recordings were misplaced and they were then too embarrassed by the oversight to inform me.

The Lame Show: Episode 19

If you'd like your questions answered on an upcoming episode of The Lame Show, post a comment to this blog or send an e-mail. Hey, it's worked for the latest episode...

Ring Us Up

Eddie defends his opinion from more reader mail. Noah takes issue with David Maynor and ringtones. In other news, SpiralFrog has launched and Palm is struggling.

On the Lame List this week is Apple's new ringtone policy and the fact that Windows 'thinks it knows better' than you do. Picks of the Week include Beck's new single "Timebomb" and the Doves older album "The Last Broadcast."

The truly burning questions are asked: Do radio DJs understand iTunes? Have you had Spanish hot chocolate lately?

Episode 19.m4a (59:28)

The Lame Show on iTunes

Stockton in WWII

A while ago, I performed some voicover work for the following documentary, which was produced as a complement to Ken Burns' much-anticipated "The War." Both myself and museum coworker Lisa Cooperman read personal WWII letters. Other museum staff members contributing on-camera work are Director Tod Ruhstaller and Curator of Archival Collections Kimberly Bowden. The completed documentary will air this Wednesday, Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m. on local PBS affiliate KVIE.

Fighting Port: Stockton in WWII

This documentary features Stockton's contribution to the war effort with a look at the Stockton Warbird Group, the shipyard, and the Stockton Jeep Project. We take an emotional look at a series of letters written between Stockton soldiers and their loved ones back home, those who kept the city going while many of its residents were away at war.

'Across the Universe' with Bono

I learned this week that Julie Taymor's long-delayed film "Across the Universe," a love story set in the sixties and inspired by Beatles' songs, features Bono as the character Dr. Robert. He performs "I Am The Walrus" with The Secret Machines. You can catch a short clip here at the official web site. The Deluxe Edition of the soundtrack also includes a version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" performed by Bono. The film will (finally) open nationwide on Sept. 21. It could definitely be a mess, but probably a good-looking mess. Don't forget that Taymor is writing and directing that Spider-Man Broadway musical with music by ... Bono and The Edge.

Annie Lennox brings 'Songs of Mass Destruction' to US

Veteran musician Annie Lennox has mapped a North American tour that will support her forthcoming album, "Songs of Mass Destruction," ... her follow-up to 2003's "Bare." The singer recorded the set in London, Los Angeles and Miami with super-producer Glen Ballard.

On the off-chance you don't know, I'm excited about this. She will be coming to San Francisco in October and I've never seen her perform live, so my fingers are crossed on getting tickets. I always find it amusing how Ticketmaster's page will tell me "You currently do not have any tickets for upcoming events. We can fix that."

During the (dreadful) MTV Video Music Awards, Shia LaBeouf revealed the name of the new film as being "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." So ignore anything that talks about 'the City of the Gods' and get the official info from IndianaJones.com.

The Lame Show: Episode 18

If you'd like your questions answered on an upcoming episode of The Lame Show, post a comment to this blog or send an e-mail.

We've Got Mail!

Noah and Eddie respond to reader mail regarding Windows vs. Mac OS X and whether or not Apple's iTunes Store is consumer friendly. Then, of course, it's time to rate and debate the new iPod models.

NBC/Universal tops the Lame List, followed by the HP Blackbird (or at least the reactions to the Blackbird). Picks of the Week include "Wincing the Night Away" by The Shins and the Google Earth Flight Simulator.

The truly burning questions are asked: Should people complain when prices drop? How much should a TV episode cost to download? Why are there less Easter Eggs nowadays?

Episode 18.m4a (44:57)

The Lame Show on iTunes

San Francisco photos

Follow the linked image below to see some photos of our day trip to San Francisco (yes, we're nearly a month late uploading them). The Giants lost in less than two hours and Barry Bonds hit his record-breaking home run days earlier, so the game wasn't too great. You'll also notice that someone else took a worse photo than I did.

San Francisco 8/12/07

'300' director inks for Bradbury tattoo tales

"300" director Zack Snyder is sharpening his pencil for "The Illustrated Man," a project based on the Ray Bradbury collection of short stories.

Nice to see Bradbury's work will come back to the big screen, especially since Mel Gibson's long-gestating version of "Fahrenheit 451" never came to fruition. And if Snyder delivers with the adaptation of "Watchmen," he'll supplant Bryan Singer as comic fandom's favorite director.

The Lame Show: Episode 17

Noah's got a new computer (it's a Mac!) and it seems to have improved the quality of his audio recording considerably. We also didn't have any lag/delay during our conversation, so this episode is completely unedited! OK, fine, there's one edit...

Unedited Return

Noah and Eddie return in an unedited episode with improved audio quality to talk about all (or at least six) of the Apple events that occurred since the last episode: iPhone, iLife, iWork, iSafari for iWindows (ah, you get the picture).

Picks of the Week include Wikipedia edits from interesting organizations and a way to transform yourself into a Simpsons character.

The truly burning questions are asked: Should movies really have anything during the credits to watch? Is a transparent menubar even worth making? Is another spreadsheet application necessary? Does Engadget owe somebody money?

Episode 17.m4a (1:06:06)

The Lame Show on iTunes

Geeks to Hollywood: We Want Wonder Woman! (We Want Her Bad)

In a recent poll of 1.6 million geeks… er, subscribers, TiVo asked which comic book character and/or classic cartoon they most wanted to see given the Transformers treatment. The results: In the comic book category — with Joss Whedon on board or not — the nerds want to see Wonder Woman take flight in her invisible jet like there's no tomorrow — she won 29 percent of the vote. Shockingly, the Green Lantern (I'm sorry, who?!) came in second with 26 percent.

I'm not sure what's more telling, the result of the poll, or the condescending attitude of the writer.

It's a new beginning for movie end credits

The scene fades to black, the movie is over, and the credits begin to roll. But wait! Don't leave just yet. You might miss some of the great custom-made artwork being cooked up by today's filmmakers.

Sadly, too many people are getting up and leaving the moment the first credit appears on screen. When we recently saw one of the movies referenced in this article, Superbad, some of the audience actually started getting up to leave before the credits appeared, apparently trying to beat everyone else out. Of course, when they realize there's more fun to be seen, they just s-l-o-w-l-y walk out, still drawn inexorably to the exit, trying to peer over the railing on their way out the exit hallway walking backwards. Sad, really.

MySpace Dark Horse Presents

At the San Diego Comic-Con, Dark Horse and MySpace announced a partnership to revive one of the most celebrated comics anthologies ever with the launch of a new online comic book, "MySpace Dark Horse Presents . . . " The online series features original content by top creators and premiere artists, all available exclusively on MySpace and free of charge to users. A new installment of MySpace DHP will be made available on the first Wednesday of every month at www.myspace.com/darkhorsepresents.

If this doesn't interest you, what if I said Joss Whedon was involved? And there's a mention of GWAR?

Handlebar

For those of you who are unable to see The Music Man, here's how I look as Salesman #1:

'Music Man' ready to ring out summer season

Meredith Willson's "The Music Man" is the final offering in the Stockton Theatre Project's third summer season. Staged at Atherton Auditorium, the show is filled with good laughs, tuneful music, touches of vintage Americana and a simple but pleasing storyline that continues to stand the test of time.

You might not be able to tell by the headline, but this is actually a review of the show, not a preview. And a good one, at that.