Okay, so nothing but a link this post, but: A whole series of 1/24th-scale photos that look like the real thing. (And they are, too. No Photoshopping at all.)
Now that the Avatar juggernaut is heading into the Oscars, I thought I’d post a quick note about two very different SF movies: Avatar and Moon.
I saw Avatar the week after it opened, in 3D. Having actively avoided the 3D versions of movies the past several years, I was somewhat apprehensive about seeing this in RealD Cinema, but it was truly amazing. Not only did Cameron not go for too much of the “spear coming out of the screen” effect, leaving the whole thing to just look, well, three-dimensional, but the overall visual nature of the film was just spectacular. The kind of movie you want to see more than once so that you can spend more time “looking around.” Way, way cool.
Moon, on the other hand, is way on the other end of the VFX spectrum. In fact, they even used some very old-school techniques for their exterior shots.
So, okay, big differences between the two in their visual presentations. Avatar, unsurprisingly, is nominated for and likely to win a whole slew of technical Oscars. Moon, not so much. But here’s the other enormous difference between the two: Moon actually has an interesting and original story. You really, really care about the characters. You get caught up in the story. There’s actual, you know, drama. The script isn’t simply a convenient container for a series of VFX shots and action, but something that draws you in and causes you to invest yourself in the outcome. The ending actually has an impact on you. In fact, and in a whole number of ways, Moon’s story is an example of some of the very best things good SF storytelling has to offer.
So: Best Picture for Avatar? I don’t think it even deserves a nomination from a story standpoint, but financial numbers do have an impact in the nominations and voting, as do pure audience numbers. In those categories, Avatar really is the 800-pound gorilla. I just wish, in my usual tilting-at-windmills way, that movies like Moon would get more popular recognition. They are, at their core, much more fulfilling than big-budget VFX-fests like Avatar.
(On a related note, why no “Best Actor” nod for Sam Rockwell? I’ve never been a fan of his, but his work on Moon was really impressive, especially if you know anything about the practical, behind-the-scenes aspects of his performance.)
I know that LED lights are becoming more and more popular for cars, especially for tail and brake lights (I seem to recall reading that the brighter LEDs cause people to react some-tenths of a second more quickly), but I would like to register a complaint: They’re freaking annoying.
I’m sure they’re phenomenal in the rain or at a distance, but they’re murder in stop-and-go traffic, especially in the dark. I was following one of those stupid “mini-SUVs” (I’m sorry, but they are) on the way home tonight and I was getting blinded every time the driver tapped the brakes. Worse, he/she seemed to be having some sort of foot spasm at the same time, ’cause the lights would flash-flash-flash constantly. Good thing I’m not susceptible to epilepsy.
I finally had to back off far enough that I “invited” someone to change into my lane. Problem solved. 
Back in the day, when the grunge movement was getting going, I was fairly “cool” for a while. I went to the “right” clubs, knew a lot of the bands, hung out with a lot of the movers-and-shakers, and so on. Hell, I’m even in the movie “Singles“… if you know where to squint in a couple of scenes.
But do you know what the highlight of this past week-end was? Something I was very excited to buy and even more excited to try out? A new vacuum cleaner. Jeez.
Let’s anthropomorphize a little, shall we? http://xkcd.com/695/ (Still kinda sad, though, innit?)
The same J-hole who prompted me to post about hallway etiquette sits across the hall and a couple doors down from me. He sits right next to the open door of a shared office. Why are these details significant? Because he has this disgusting habit of belching loudly and with annoying regularity. Not polite, easily-covered burps, either, or even nasty-ol’ vibrato throat-farts, but these horrible, wet-sounding things.
You know that dry-heave retch that people make just before they throw up in a particularly violent way? Yeah, like that. And people wonder why I keep my office door closed.
The kitchens here at Microsoft have these nifty little Starbucks brew-on-demand coffee machines. One of the two in my floor’s kitchen has suffered some sort of failure and is showing a “brewer failure” message on its small, text-based display screen. Someone stuck a Post-It next to it saying “Brew Screen of Death.” Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…