Pretty much the best anything, ever.

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Flash Gordan Painter experiment

...

FireStorm Painter experiment

Voila, een stukje uit "The Cider House Rules". De film zelf was gisteren nog te bekijken op Canvas. Het blijft een prachtige film.

Maar wie is uw favoriete componist ?

Eefje

Var du tv-tittende i 1976? Ikke jeg heller. Derfor gikk jeg glipp av bionic-haussen. Jeg fikk med meg noen repriser av Bionic Man som lettpåvirkelig ungpike, men ikke nok til at jeg har det i blodet på samme måte som f.eks. A-Team og JMV-masturberende Airwolf. Derfor gledet det meg stort da jeg fikk høre om NBCs gjensatsing på halvgynoide kvinner. Optimalt stoff for nyfeminismen, gitt. En drøm for målgruppa. Kjøpesterke unge kvinner med et reflektert forhold til kjønnsrollene. Jaime Sommers er tilbake. Eller er hun? Hvorfor finnes det bare 8 episoder å oppdrive? Ryktene tilsier at det er laget flere episoder, men at de ble satt på vent mens forfatterstreiken i film/TV-bransjen foregikk. Den paranoide konspirasjonsteoretikeren i meg er overbevist. Patriarkatet tålte ikke en kvinne som kalte menn "bitch" og deretter banket dem opp. En kvinne som ikke lot seg pelle på nesen, og hvis største styrke ikke var hennes seksualitet. Skremmende greier. Serien er vel verdt å sjekke ut i sommer på TV3, progressiv som faen. De gir rett og slett jernet.

Jag fick lite grejer på IKEA också, en blomma, en äggklocka och lite korgar och grejer. Bra bra! När vi kom hem spelade vi lite Mario kart, och han var ju skitduktig! Jag blev riktigt imponerad. När Magnus också kom hem åt vi lite mat och sen var det dags för far min att åka hem.

Igår kom Magnus hem, fick larm och satt och jobbade i nästan två timmar. När vi äntligen hade hunnit äta kvällsmat var klockan en bra bit efter nio. Vi bestämde oss för att ta ett bad ändå. Vi tittade på sista avsnittet av Sex & the city och åt jordgubbar och hallon. Hur mysigt som helst.

Nu väntar jag på att Magnus ska komma hem igen, vilket han borde göra vilken minut som helst. Förhoppningsvis slipper han en massa larm ikväll...

Det är egentligen är mini serie i 3 delar, men jag såg de efter varandra så det blev som en lång film för mej. Filmen var helt okey i sej, det var mycket kärlek i den. Egentligen har jag svårt för filmer som utspelar sej i dåtid men denna var helt okej. Det finns en serie från 1995 med, men jag såg den nya från 2008. Men jag antar att det är samma film fast ny inspelad.

Handling:

Då fadern i familjen Dashwood dör ska godset han har bott på tillsammans
med sin fru och tre döttrar enligt lagen ärvas av sonen i hans
första äktenskap. De tre döttrarna lämnas utan tak över huvudet.
De hyr ett litet hus en dagsresa från godset. Men innan de hinner
flytta möter den äldsta dottern (Emma Thompson) den nye ägarens bror.
Kärlek uppstår vid första ögonkastet mellan dem. Frågan är: Kan en
ung man av hans rang gifta sig under sitt stånd? Den mittersta dottern
får också bekymmer. Hon har två beundrare. Den ene vacker och flyktig
som en sommarvind, den andre seriös och inåtvänd. Vem av de två kan
göra henne mest lycklig?

Betyg: 3 av 5

• It wasn't too long - I get fidgety in films over two hours
• It was about a good-guy PR man, it's not often that you see public relations portrayed as a good thing in films nowadays
• Will Smith and Jason Bateman were excellent (and, gentlemen, Charlize Theron was appropriately hot)
• It was an ideal mix of funny, touching and interesting, without taking itself too seriously.  And it had a good twist.

A pergect post-Wagamama, mid week (aka Orange Wednesday) film.

È tra i film più attesi della seconda parte della stagione The Spirit, graphic-movie-novel scritta per lo schermo e diretta da Frank Miller, geniale autore di arte in sequenze. Sul sito www.mycityscreams.com potete già vedere il trailer, tanto per rendervi conto di essere in piena atmosfera visionaria alla Sin City. Il progetto (al di là degli esiti) è assai interessante, perchè il personaggio di The Spirit è stato inventato dal leggendario Will Eisner, maestro riconosciuto di Miller. I due sono tra l'altro "protagonisti" di un meraviglioso libro-intervista Eisner/Miller. Conversazioni sul fumetto che vi consigliamo caldamente. Lo Spirito del titolo è uno sbirro morto e risorto (interpretato da Gabriel Macht) che lotta contro il male nell'immaginaria Central City. La sua nemesi si chiama Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), un criminale in cerca del segreto dell'immortalità. Ad aiutare il nostro fantasmatico eroe, la spregiudicata vicina di casa Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson), che fa il paio con la ladra Eva Mendes. The Spirit esce in Usa il giorno di Natale.

Grazie a Magnolia per la segnalazione.

Deux pensées: 1. gör Zola för skitparis vad gjorde Fogelström för skitsthlm? och 2. bråkeriet i tvätteriet, jag kunde inte tänka på annat är öppningsscenen i "I am Dina" (quelle kalkonette!) när kokas av misstag hennes mor i det turkosa heta, bakgrundsfjäll tigande.

Idag har jag släntrat den öde staden (halloumi! moussebakelse! citronsorbet! chardonnay! espresso!) med min make, under tiden vilken vi fyndade flertalet inbundna à tio kronor på Myrorna som jag, efter att jag tagit hand om mina orkidéer (vit, gul, violett), torkat av och tömt på ev. beggat innehåll.

Sålunda, åter mot "Krogen", on y va!

Nå som Cyndi Lauper-haussen er på topp, føles det riktig å mimre litt. For de av oss som var/er wrestlingfans, og vokste opp på 80-tallet er Cyndi nemlig en sentral figur på mange måter. Ikke bare som progressiv popprinsesse, men også som forkjemper for kvinnesport. Eller "sport", om du vil. Cyndi og manager/kjæreste David Wolff skjønte tidlig at WWF var et prima promoområde. Wrestling var jo tross alt stort på 80-tallet. Dermed ble Cyndi lansert inn i WWF-sfæren med brask og bram. Det foregikk omtrent slik: Etter en opphetet krangel på WWF-badboy Roddy Pipers innslag Piper's Pit med WWF-personlighet Captain Lou Albano om hvorvidt han var Cyndis manager eller ei(ei), utfordret Cyndi ham, og "The Brawl To Settle It All" avgjorde for all ettertid at Cyndi var en bedre manager enn Lou. Men, som alt annet innen WWF kunne det jo ikke stoppe der, sagaen gikk omtrent slik:
 

Lurer du på mer om Cyndi og WWF kan du lese her.Her er forresten krangelen som startet alt:

Oh, and by the way, yes, it’s a musical.

This is indeed good news for those of us who are waiting impatiently for Whedon’s next project, the TV-series Dollhouse, due to premiere early next year (on a hopefully new and improved Fox Television) and starring Eliza Dushku (Faith from Buffy, as she probably is pretty tired of being called).

Backstory:

During the recent writer's strike in Hollywood, one of the most active and outspoken members of the Writer’s Guild were Joss Whedon, Creator/Writer/Director of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and Serenity. While not being able to write anything for television or film during the strike, and while tending to a bad case of the flu, he conceived of an idea that might (with a bit of luck) change the balance of power between the creative and “industrial” sides of the conflict. By going outside the studios altogether and still produce something with sufficient quality to draw the viewers (punters, for you in the UK) in, he could strike two bats in the same belfry, as I like to say…

A significant part of the disagreement that necessitated the Writer’s Strike, had to do with revenue from internet downloads and other distributionary concerns. (I doubt “distributionary” is a word. Well, now it is…) Although I haven’t seen anyone explicitly making the connection between the conflict and Whedon’s new project, apart from noting that he wrote and directed it during the strike, I can’t help but feel that it also serves as something of a validation of his argument during the strike. Internet related products are becoming increasingly important tothe industry – be it as streaming and downloads of television episodes or rental of films or whatever the very near future will offer in terms of technology and institutional usage of such. Of the billions of dollars in play in the newer medium, the creative end of the entertainment industry has had to stick with a miniscule percentage, unchanged since the days that internet was unthinkable as a mass distribution system.

The studios’ reluctance – or downright unwillingness and plain orneryness – to even accept this as negotiable, was perhaps understandable from a purely greedy – or capitalist, if you like – viewpoint. And what other point of view should one expect from them? In the end, after filling the sedated American homes with reruns and reality shows (and one or two talk show judases) for months, an agreement of sorts was reached, but I think quite a number of the creative force had their eyes opened to some of the more unpleasant truths of “the business”.

It’s been well documented that the relationship between the creators and studios, seldom ideal at the best of times, suffered severely. I don’t think we have yet seen the full consequences of this rift. There are some that fear that the studios will act out against the more prominent of the strikers, but these worries have so far been delegated to the paranoid/conspiracy- corner of the internet. We shall see.

Anyhow. Whedon’s idea – and not being content to write two or three comic titles (e.g. Buffy, season 8, Astonishing X-Men, Runaways, vol.3) while standing on the picket line – was to accomplish something within film akin to selfpublishing in literature/comics. Internet should really afford a great opportunity to filmmakers that want to – or can afford to – bypass the studio system. To find an audience for whatever you put out there won’t really be as difficult as making them pay for it. Sometimes, though, the exposure of the work is more important than immediate monetary gains. This is particularly true for up and coming artist. Also, chances are that the production will have to be quite a lot cheaper than a studio financed film would allow for.

Relatively unknown filmmakers have for some time used the internet as a venue to showcase their smallish films/episodes, what have you. The mentioned The Guild, by and with Felicia Day, is an example. I think the course she has taken with her project is valid and sound. It’s comedy, fairly broad – although aimed at a certain target audience – and firmly rooted in the real world – even though it’s about people living in an unreal world, and as each episode only lasts some five minutes, it does not outstay its welcome. The production costs should not be excessive, neither, as the actors presumably work more or less for free. The genius of showcasing the series on internet, is that it’s about the very people most likely to be heavy consumers of internetrelated material and highly trained at finding niche products on the net.

Internet geeks – and I don’t mean that at all derogatory – have buying power as a group. The trick is making them want to pay for something they have ways to get for free. Here is where a term like fandom can come into play, so to speak. If the geek – and I could include myself in that group – really likes something, he or she will likely want to see it survive, and if this can be done by paying for a product instead of downloading it for free, said geek/fan will easily do this.

We all know us nerds/geeks/fans have an affinity for material traditionally belonging in comics or pulp: Superheroes and science fiction done right, done as well as good comics have been done. The problem is that these types of programs have severe problems reaching outside its niche audience, and as such seems to be terminally on the brink of cancellation. Of course, this has changed slightly the last five or six years, with superheroes and SF finding a hitherto unknown success in the cinemas – and especially on DVD.

Still, the average American – and World citizen at large – prefer more traditional entertainment when it comes to television. Once in a very blue moon, a show manages to break out – such as Lost and Heroes, but even the fans of these series (which should consider themselves lucky for being fans of SF series that actually do almost all right in the Nielsen Ratings) are constantly worrying that this season will be the last, that the ratings sink gradually for every season. (The truth is that neither Heroes nor Battlestar Galactica had the number of viewers their second seasons that would normally mean an automatic renewal of their network contracts. But since the viewers the series do have are quite sought after among the advertisers, they manage to stay on).

As a consequence of this insecurity, us fans of what has traditionally been deemed nerd entertainment, will buy the DVDs of our favourite shows rather than download them from some pirate site, we will talk about the shows to anyone who cares to listen and to those who don’t, we will, in short, pay good money for the products we would like to see survive the ruthlessness of ratings, and we will do lots of advertising for free. I’m convinced this gives these types of entertainment a competitive edge that will never befall, say, Grey’s anatomy or Entourage. I like Entourage, but I wouldn’t bother to feel any kind of obligation for the show’s survival. Not like with Firefly or Buffy or Galactica or Heroes.

So, when Joss Whedon, an established writer/director, offers a new creation of his for free, I believe him when he claims it is to give something back to the fans, but clearly he is also testing the waters for the “real” value of fandom. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog will be, I assume, a low budget affair. Whedon has the respect and admiration of his actors – even those who have gone on to (slightly) bigger things, and they will initially work for free for such a hobby project of his. They know that their involvement in a Whedon project automatically generates an enormous good will from the fans of the Whedonverse, and besides they seem generally decent people and not overtly obsessed with trailers and entourages and the follies normally accompanying actors on some kind of brink to some kind of starhood. But still, it’s always risky to partake in something as untried as this.

Whedon’s decision to premiere his show for free for the fans that has the wherewithal to know about the scheduled airing dates, and then later charge for the experience, could be comparable to the release of Radiohead’s latest album, where they charged people as much as people wanted to pay. But it is still more safe than Radiohead’s gamble (which was not really that much of a gamble, since they can afford not to earn millions for every record). I think Whedon’s fans are more loyal, for one thing, and it’s easier to support someone that we know is not a worldwide household name, and that has to struggle to see almost all of his intended projects come to fruition. Whedon knows the show will be pirated, but he has to trust that the product and financial support thereof, will prove the validity of the show. (And that us Whedonites will hope for a sequel?) And he has the geek vote, and that will take him quite some of the way. Were Michael Bay, say, to initiate such a project, I can pretty much guarantee no one would bother to pay for it, even though it had more viewers than sense.

It will be interesting to see whether Whedon actually can declare some kind of success with this show/experiment. The definition of success could vary from artistically sound to commercially viable. If nothing else, it should generate sufficient word of mouth to strengthen his position in the industry as a hero for the geek community, and as such strengthen his bargaining chips with Fox or other networks as he presents a new series. I, for one, have faith in the project. One of my favourite episodes of Buffy, was “Once More With Feeling”, the now famous all musical episode, and Whedon certainly showed he had an ear for catchy musical numbers (he wrote all the music), as well as the visual flair needed to handle the genre. Dr. Horrible is a musical. It cannot be bad. I’m excited. And I’m not alone. I think.

Sommeren betyr stort sett repriser i fjernsynet. Bortsett fra et og annet allsangprogram, og kanskje litt hyggelig pludring med Anne Grosvold på Aker Brygge. Dette er fordi ingen ser på TV om sommeren. Visstnok. Vi vet jo alle at dette er løgn. At alle sitter ute og nyter sommernettene med gode venner, griller og drikker pils, lyser etter krabber og tar nattbad. Det er bare piss. Mulig de gjør det i 2 uker. Så er det tilbake til ettromsen og fjernsynet. Sommeren byr tross alt på underholdning du blir nektet ellers i året.

Ikke nok med at TV2 Zebra kjører repriser av Pacific Blue, TV3 har hoppet ut i havet av sommerunderholdning med en klar vinner: Den danske utgaven av Paradise Hotel. For de av oss som satt oppe om nettene for å se på den amerikanske serien for et par år tilbake er dette gledelige nyheter. Som freelancer-kvinna kommenterte; de har skåret vekk alt det unødvendige: kjedelige konkurranser og kompliserte påskudd for hvorfor 6 glamourmodeller og 6 ballevoksede bartendere gnukker på hverandre i Syden. Det som står igjen er kun dritt. Akkurat slik reality-TV skal være.
Etter nedleggelsen av Paradise Hotel i USA, prøvde de seg med oppfølgeren Forever Eden, som var dobbelt så komplisert og halvparten så festlig. Og hun irske tøyta som var programleder, Amanda Byram (tidligere kjent fra hakket mer spekulative Svanen), hun var ... uffamei.

Men, det er bare å benke seg hver kveld for nye forviklinger når 12 dansker skal tilbringe 14 uker i Syden. Robinsonekspedisjonen kan bare gå og legge seg. Det blir aldri færre deltagere, ingen vet hvordan man vinner, og alle er konstant nakne og fulle. Å overleve det i 14 uker, på dansk, er en prestasjon i seg selv.

Men, nå som vi først prater om Paradise Hotel, syns jeg det er på sin plass å nevne dramaqueen #1 i amerikansk reality tidlig på 00-tallet. Toni Ferrari. Du traff henne først (avhengig av i hvilket land du var i rundt 2003), i Love Cruise: The Maiden Voyage fra 2001. Stusselige greier. Best å ligge unna. Men Toni gjorde seg bemerket med sin voldsomme fysikk og høyaggressive humør, og ble plukket ut til Paradise Hotel også, gitt.

"No more drinks". Nettopp. Hør på Toni, barn.

Men frykt ikke, når danskene har pult ferdig og er hjemme og pleier bondeangeren, kan vi forhåpentligvis glede oss til sesong 2 av amerikanske Paradise Hotel, som akkurat ble ferdig.

June 1 - 11

Not a whole lot going on these first days of June for us. We finished watching the climactic 3rd season of Battlestar Galactica - if you're not watching it you're missing out. Jen's been out of work since mid May and has been looking since the beginning of March if that tells you anything about the state of the job market here in Tampa. It's pretty bad, so please pray that she will find a great full time job. Oh, and the weather is just hot.

June 12

1. Walter Howard's Birthday! Sorry I didn't get you called man. I'm a tool of a friend.
2. Had free seats in the Marriot Box at Tropicana Field to watch the Rays play the White Sox. We Lost.

June 13

1. Josh's Dad's Birthday! He is exactly 30 yrs and 4 days older than me.

June 14

1. Hayne Griffin's Birthday! Happy Birthday man and congrats on your new baby girl (also born in June)
2. Surprise pre-birthday party for me at Jen's sister's house on the lake and the Mixon's were the surprise guests. Plenty of fun to be had playing video games and being dragged on a tube behind a boat. Well done Jen and co. on a great birthday celebration.

June 15

1. Father's Day. We're not celebrating that at our house yet. But hopefully soon.

June 16

1. Final small group meeting for the year.
2. Final small group meeting with the Mixon's.

June 17

1. Josh's Birthday - 29 years old.
2. New Coldplay album Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends. Here's 42. (One more than Dave Matthews) [audio http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/5/20/1921711/04%2042.mp3]
3. Celebrated birthday by buying new Coldplay album and a Chic-Fil-A chicken biscuit on the way to work and actually enjoyed the traffic that day.
4. Birthday dinner with great friends.

June 19 - a very sad day.

1. The Mixon's (out dearest best friends) move to Nash-Vegas. (Nashville for those that don't know)
2. Jen starts working part-time at Banana Republic.

June 21 - The near perfect Saturday

1. Slept in. Listened to the thunder storm roll in for close to 30 minutes and just layed in bed and talked.
2. Late breakfast - bagels and coffee. Began to pour down rain.
3. Went to see Get Smart (better than we thought) before noon - only cost $5 and we had a gift card.
4. Spent the afternoon with friends at a baby shower, and watched Euro '08 quarterfinals on TV.

June 22

1. Got to see Spain beat Italy in another Euro '08 quarterfinal match. Go Spain!

June 23

1. Happy Birthday Aunt Jackie!

June 24

1. Happy Birthday Carolyn Hull!

June 26

1. Happy Birthday Leah. She is exactly 1 year and 9 days younger than me.

June 27

1. Dinner with the Whites. First time since SF that I've had really good Sushi.

June 28

1. Lunch w/ Aunt Jackie - celebrating her birthday from earlier in the week. Hooray!

June 29

1. I watched Spain win Euro '08 deservedly. I repeat go Spain!
2. Played Pirate-opoly (Pirates of the Caribbean Monopoly) with my 2 nephews. The youngest (5) smoked all of us.

June 30

1. Jen went with her mom and the 2 nephews to the Lowry Park Zoo. Sounds like a great way to end the month to me.

Sen midsommar har vi hunnit med mycket. Utan kronologisk ordning:

• Varit i tre affärer och letat efter tapet till hallen. Den rosa var tyvärr inte lika snygg som på bild, så nu blir det en annan.
• Varit i Eskilstuna och lunchat med Anna och Isa. Hämtat hit en del grejer som jag saknat, men glömde mina innegympaskor. Morr!
• Varit på fest hos Magnus 1. Mycket trevligt.
• Målat loftet två gånger, det börjar bli riktigt snyggt!
• Sett massa Gilmore girls och Sex and the city.
• Diskuterat loft, tapeter och inredning i mängder.

Förmodligen har jag glömt något, men bra har vi haft det i alla fall.

- Ladda ned dokumentären här, se en del av den på YouTube, läs en artikel i NYT eller läs Wal-Mart Watch.

Aanrijding in Moscou was dus alleen door de heerlijke trailer al een uitzondering op de regel. De film slaagde er dus ook in mij te bekoren, eenvoudig weg door kurkdroge woordenwisselingen met Gentse tongval. Het is misschien de chauvinist in mij die spreekt, maar zó veel geestiger dan al dat Antwerps en Brabants waarmee de televisie overspoeld wordt.

Long story short, mij goed geamuseerd en blijkbaar was ik niet de enige. :)

Många av de filmerna som är med har jag faktiskt inte en ens sett och har jag sett dem har jag glömt bort dem och det var ju antagligen för att de inte ens är värda att lägga ögonen på två gånger. Klassikern När lammen tystnar finns med på topp 10 och den platsen förtjänar den, för det är med en film man kan se flera gånger. Dock inget roligt eftersom man vet hur den slutar, men spänningsfaktorn är hög på den.

Men sen kanske det är tur att det inte är jag som rankar fram de bästa filmerna då de flesta säkert inte hade hållt med mej.

Maar erg goed, dat zeker.

Whilst jogging this evening Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA came on my iPod and I felt a curious rush of energy - an odd feeling of kinship.  Was it because of Bruce's poweful, raging voice?  No.  Was it because of the book I'm reading, in which Bill Bryson is trekking through the Appalacian mountain range, experiencing America in all its raw, natural beauty?  No.  Then it hit me, and the truth was terrible.  It was because I saw Sex And The City last night, and I felt shamed.

How could it be that my subconscious related more to a film in which a frankly selfish, vain and morally warped woman ponces around in ridiculous shoes, than to a true life tale of travel, nature and friendship? God knows, but I do know that perhaps I enjoyed 'SATC' more than I thought...

OK, now if you haven't seen it yet, look away...

...it was way too long and I would have preferred to have watched it in three episodes, but it was definitely enjoyable. I particularly liked Samantha's story and I felt genuinely touched at a couple of moments throughout. And I did laugh out loud on more than one occasion.  Even my male companion was satisfied on exiting the Cinema - that's saying something.

So go and see it, but don't expect intelligent subplots.  Prepare yourself for cheese and settle down for the evening - it's certainly a good one to get out on DVD (especially with today's cinema prices - I remember when it was £3.80 down at the ABC on Cheapside...!).

Final warning - if you didn't like the TV series, do NOT watch it.