Randomness Part Sept

First, a shout out to David Higgins for this awesome video of Pan American Airlines transatlantic flights back in the days when flying was enjoyable.

Woe is us for modern air travel. Spend the 12-1/2 minutes and watch this promotional film. It's a hoot, a gas, and so forth.

I spent quite a few dollars ($3.25) on tolls today. It's Adrian's fault. I am going to buy a tire jack and beat him senseless with it. It won't take long to beat him there as he's almost there already. We finally had breakfast but it took awhile due to the fact Adrian thinks feeding cats is complicated and takes 20 minutes.

Skated today. Yay skating. Only got an hour in, though. After which I got gas at the world's slowest pump. The pump at the Hammocks Mobil took 11 minutes to pump 17.5 gallons.

We saw Spiderwick Chronicles. The concept was good and I didn't hate it but the acting was absolutely atrocious from everyone except the old Lucy. Ham. Lots of ham. But not a bad movie if you can get past the Over Emoting style of acting.

I finished "Little Tom of England" by Madeline Brandeis. Not a good book by any measure but it's entirely quaint and a satisfying read nonetheless. I made sure to drag this out over two months for the sheer pleasure of it, though it is, at best, a 45 minute read. (Edit: Mom, who gave me this book, reminded me to tell everyone this book was published in 1935.)

I am now home doing laundry. I might do my tax preparation today if I can get motivated. If not, I'll just screw around on the computer instead of working. Which shall it be?

I have an upcoming trade show in Las Vegas in early May. Austri may be joining me :)

Last week I replaced all the switch plate and electrical outlet covers. Gone are the standard off-white ones in every home and installed are brushed chrome and/or brushed pewter models. They look good. They're all done except the phone jacks (too much work, but I'll get there) and the stuff behind furniture. My meteorite (see Flickr) has a case and stand now in glass and faux-pewter wood. Very nice.

Ding Dong, HD-DVD is Dead

Stick a fork in it, because it's over. It's official. Today, Toshiba has announced that HD-DVD is no more and will be relegated to the bin of history. For the first time, consumers have won in receiving a quality product instead of the cheaper product. Blu-Ray is here to stay and coming within the next year we will now have Lord of the Rings in Blu-Ray! I could go on and on, but you can go look at my previous blog posts (click the Blu-Ray or HD-DVD tags at the bottom of this post to get a listing).

The studios are thrilled, though many might consider that a downside. The hardware manufacturers are thrilled. Everyone is happy. Expect a massive roll-out of titles in about six months, and by Christmas you should see prices on releases drop. This will also spur on the availability of actual BDVD+RW drives for your computer at an affordable level as well as drives that are speedier.

Who's left holding the bag? Toshiba and Microsoft. I feel sorry for Toshiba. Here's an article that appeared today of some interest. It's one of many that have come out, indicating how thrilled they are at the announcement.

"While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology, and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality," Atsutoshi Nishida, president and chief executive of Toshiba, said in a statement.

Universal, one of the two remaining HD-DVD camps has announced a switch to Blu-Ray effective immediately. New titles will come out on HD-DVD and they will release their back catalog as well. Only Paramount remains and an announcement is expected at any moment.

Peter Jackson Can't Kick the Hobbit: He's Signed On!

Peter Jackson: Middle Earth, A Hard Hobbit to Break

Some bits from various wire reports cut and pasted together:

Relations between Jackson and New Line soured after "Rings" despite a collective worldwide box office gross of nearly $3 billion, decimating records around the globe. After publicly warring for well over a year, "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have reached and agreement to make Tolkien's "The Hobbit," a planned two-film prequel to the blockbuster trilogy. A director has yet to be named. Production is tentatively set to begin in 2009 with a 2010 release, and the second part following in 2011.

Two "Hobbit" films are scheduled to be shot simultaneously, which is how the three "Lord of the Rings" films were made. New Line said it was Jackson's idea to divide the story, adapted from Tolkien's first book about Middle Earth (which was about half the length of any from the trilogy that followed).

Jackson, who directed "LOTR," will serve as executive producer for two "Hobbit" pictures. Jackson brought Tolkien's Middle-Earth saga a total of 17 Academy Awards.

Late last year, acrimony between the Jackson and New Line became very public, but Jackson's suit, the two sides announced today, has been settled. The terms of the settlement were not announced, though New Line cheerfully added, "One of the key terms was we all shake hands with each other."

In his statement, Jackson thanked Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) Chairman and CEO Harry Sloan for helping him and New Line "find the common ground necessary to continue that journey." He also said, "We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth."

The film's production schedule is subject to how long the writers strike lasts, which some forecast could continue for many months. There is not a script for either "Hobbit" film, and producers will be unable to even approach writers until the strike is over.

"If the writers strike drags on, then everything can change in terms of the time table," New Line said today.

In addition, Eric Seiden could be heard screaming nearly 100 miles away as he had a paroxysm of unbridled joy. Two films from a true-believer. What more could any fan want besides an accelerated production schedule.

The Rocket -- The Legend Of Rocket Richard

This movie has been released previously in Canada in French. The Rocket -- The Legend Of Rocket Richard
is now out on DVD having just been released 11 December. The DVD contains both English and French versions and I watched both to compare the two. Subtitles are also available -- but not recommended.

The film tells the “The Rocket” Richard (neé Maurice). Growing up a young French Canadian, Maurice Richard had a dream to play in the National Hockey League. In those days, there was an enormous amount of discrimination against French-Canadians, especially those who spoke little English -- and that, was Mr. Richard. Through sheer force of will he broke into the sport, facing down Campbell several times -- and after a particularly biased ruling, Montréal rioted in a historic moment in hockey history.

The Rocket played with a finesse, speed, and the fire that defied all odds and made him a legend, and a man beloved by all hockey fans. This movie is for fans and if you don't have a deep love for hockey, you may not like this film. I have that deep love of hockey.

Some quibbles: I noticed some differences between the spoken French and dubbed English but my French is pretty bad now so I shan't hold it against the film. The dubbed version irritates because you see mouths and voices out-of-synch which is common in all dubbed films and, more importantly, you lose a great deal because you don't realize when he speaks in English and/or in French. I strongly recommend watching in the original French with English subtitles. I know they put it here to widen the appeal, but the English version reduces the impact of the film. Also note that the English version doesn't translate the French text that appears on the screen throughout the film.

The film is rated "PG" for a few bloody hockey scenes and some foul words. Quite honestly, anyone over 10 can watch this film so don't keep the kiddies away if they love hockey. Richard is a role model you don't need to worry about, unlike modern day athletes.

Will the acting win an Oscar™? No. But it's serviceable and the characters are mostly believable. The cinematography is stellar. A journalist friend of mine also received a review copy. She told me the hockey scenes were well done. What an understatement! They were beautiful. Authentic down to the last detail -- skates, ice, uniforms, boards, chain link fences, everything. Even people in the crowd standing and blocking the camera view at times: a tour-de-force, mes amis! Pierre Gill and Michel Proulx deserve an Oscar™ for their work here.

Fans of current players can see cameos by:

• Sean Avery of the New York Rangers
• Pascal Dupuis of the Atlanta Thrashers
• Ian Laperriere of the Colorado Avalanche
• Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightening
• Stéphane Quintal previously of the Montréal Canadiens
• Mike Ricci previously of the Phoenix Coyotes

The Richard Story must be seen by all true hockey fans. It's available at Amazon.Com.

12-23-07 SPECIAL CONTEST: Win a free copy of The Rocket. You must join our hockey message board to be eligible to win.


Disclaimer: I have been a fan of Maurice Richard for ages and even saw the tribute at the HHOF in his honour, so my review is probably slightly biased. I reviewed a press copy as provided by Palm Pictures.

The Complete Disney Film List And My Rankings

These are the classic animated Disney films. These are FULL LENGTH FEATURES ONLY. The list does not include animated films distributed but not produced by Disney. It also doesn’t include direct to video releases. The first column is the order in which they were released, and the second column is my opinion as to the ranking of the films. The "DNS" designator indicates one I have not seen. This list is accurate as the date of this post. I have not included Disney Toon Studio films in any of these lists.


1 13 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
2 15 Pinocchio
3 3 Fantasia
4 12 Dumbo
5 21 Bambi
6 41 Saludos Amigos
7 37 The Three Caballeros
8 DNS Make Mine Music
9 42 Fun and Fancy Free
10 DNS Melody Time
11 11 The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
12 14 Cinderella
13 10 Alice in Wonderland
14 9 Peter Pan
15 17 Lady and the Tramp
16 8 Sleeping Beauty
17 18 One Hundred and One Dalmatians
18 19 The Sword in the Stone
19 6 The Jungle Book
20 32 The Aristocats
21 20 Robin Hood
22 23 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
23 24 The Rescuers
24 25 The Fox and the Hound
25 7 The Black Cauldron
26 27 The Great Mouse Detective
27 26 Oliver & Company
28 28 The Little Mermaid
29 38 The Rescuers Down Under
30 2 Beauty and the Beast
31 29 Aladdin
32 1 The Lion King
33 40 Pocahontas
34 35 The Hunchback of Notre Dame
35 36 Hercules
36 5 Mulan
37 22 Tarzan
38 34 Fantasia 2000
39 31 The Emperor's New Groove
40 30 Atlantis: The Lost Empire
41 4 Lilo & Stitch
42 33 Treasure Planet
43 16 Brother Bear
44 39 Home on the Range
45 DNS Chicken Little
46 DNS Meet the Robinsons


These are the Pixar films. These are FULL LENGTH FEATURES ONLY. The first column is the order in which they were released, and the second column is my opinion as to the ranking of the films. The "DNS" designator indicates one I have not seen. This list is accurate as the date of this post.
1 4 Toy Story
2 6 A Bug's Life
3 5 Toy Story 2
4 3 Monsters, Inc.
5 7 Finding Nemo
6 2 The Incredibles
7 8 Cars
8 1 Ratatouille



These are the mixed live action and animated Disney films. These are FULL LENGTH FEATURES ONLY. The list does not include animated films distributed but not produced by Disney. It also doesn’t include direct to video releases. The first column is the order in which they were released, and the second column is my opinion as to the ranking of the films. The "DNS" designator indicates one I have not seen. This list is accurate as the date of this post.
1 6 The Reluctant Dragon
2 DNS Victory Through Air Power (War Film)
3 1 Song of the South
4 DNS So Dear to My Heart
5 3 Mary Poppins
6 4 Bedknobs and Broomsticks
7 5 Pete's Dragon
8 2 Who Framed Roger Rabbit
9 DNS The Lizzie McGuire Movie

These are the "other" Disney films which didn't come out of Disney studios, but they do deserve a mention. These are FULL LENGTH FEATURES ONLY. The list does not include animated films distributed but not produced by Disney. It also doesn’t include direct to video releases. The first column is the order in which they were released, and the second column is my opinion as to the ranking of the films. The "DNS" designator indicates one I have not seen. This list is accurate as the date of this post.

1 1 The Nightmare Before Christmas
2 DNS James and the Giant Peach
3 2 Dinosaur

Yippee Kai Yay, Mother Fucker

Yes, John McClane is back as played by Bruce Willis. The new film Live Free or Die Hard is now out -- though the name is somewhat misleading as to the content of the film. I went in figuring the film would be okay, but that I wouldn't really enjoy it because the franchise is both old and dated -- as well as the lead.

I was wrong. The film rocks from the opening moments to the final credit roll. It's entertaining, the character is still believable and retains his sense of humour. His signature quote is cut-off right after the "F" though and that gives this film just enough to squeak by with a PG-13 instead of an R.

No film like this is actually believable or to be taken seriously, but the bit with the F-16 (or whatever model that was) flying in and out of the freeway pylons was simply a bit much. It was entertaining but stretched credulity just a little too far. His daughter was very well cast, the villain less so. The hacker geeks were very well done, and I speak from personal experience. "I am a Mac" guy was so believable in his role, it was scary.

If you liked the first movies, go see this film. You will not be disappointed.

I must mention one bit unrelated to the film. Many of my friends asked why I am not rushing out to see "Transformers" and I have two reasons. First, I was never a big fan of the cartoon. Didn't like it and didn't hate it. It was just there, though the toys were very cool. Secondly, I can answer in two words: Michael Bay. Michael Bay cannot direct his way out of a paper bag. He is responsible for "Pearl Harbor" and ruining some fine films in remakes. His best film was the entertaining Armageddon which lacked any style whatsoever; if that's the best you can do: shame on you. Next up, he will mangle the Hitchcock classic the Birds.

HD-DVD versus Blu-Ray: Strike One

Ah, the video wars: HD-DVD versus Blu-Ray. I've been a champion of Blu-Ray for a number of reasons, and now it looks like the first real step towards a "winner" has been made. Blockbuster is going to go Blu-Ray. I favour Blu-Ray because it's a better viewing experience, it stores a better amount of data which enables more features. And, my PS/3 runs Blu-Ray. That's probably the real reason. In every video format war, I picked the losing side because I always pick the better one regardless of price. I've done that again, but I think this time I may be right.

Blockbuster has been renting both Blu-ray and HD DVD titles in 250 stores since late last year and found that consumers were choosing Blu-ray titles more than 70 percent of the time."The consumers are sending us a message. I can't ignore what I'm seeing," Matthew Smith, senior vice president of merchandising at Blockbuster, told The Associated Press.

Whatever you do, don't buy the combo players. If you read the specifications, you will find that the HD-DVD special features don't work on the combo players: only Blu-Ray works. But, you can watch your films and maybe that's all the matters to you.

Tintin Coming as Feature Film

Steven Spielberg is set to produce and Peter Jackson to direct the 2009 live-action motion picture film version of Hergé's beloved Tintin books for Dreamworks. Actually Spielberg and Jackson will each direct one with a third director to make the final film. So, it's a trilogy to be taken from the numerous comics Hergé wrote.

It's being called a "photo-realistic animated film" so, honestly, I'm not 100% sure what that is, but the Wikipedia article sheds a little light. Anyone remember Dick Tracy? Maybe something like that but in reverse?

I've been a fan of Tintin since I was a kid and just thrilled to death about this! I am not alone, either. A search of the net using Google shows a large number of sites talking about this.

The Most Exciting Numbers Since Lost

The last numbers that generated this much excitement were "4 8 15 16 23 42" from the hit TV show Lost. What is it about the code "O9_F9_ll_o2_9D_74_E3" when coupled with "5B_D8_41_56_C5_63_56_88_CO" that has everyone so riled up? A fascinating question for the uninitiated. That code (at least through 1 May 2007) would unlock any HD-DVD or Blu-Ray movie ever produced. It's the master key for the supposedly unbreakable encryption these disks are wrapped in. Isn't that illegal one might logically ask? Well thanks to the DMCA it very well may be illegal.

However, don't believe for a minute that there aren't some perfectly legitimate uses. For example, someone with a Linux box owns a film in these HD formats and wishes to view it. Because there is no DRM in Linux, you can't view it. The only way is to hack your legally purchased item. Has anyone lost a dime? No. Is it illegal? Possibly so, and that's clearly wrong. Another example, my older Sony Plasma TV has a DVI input. However supposedly only HDMI carries the special security codes needed to play true HD -- and many newer players will not play true HD content without that signal, so does the AACS-LA and MPAA plan on buying me a new TV? Of course not.

The DMCA is one of the worst laws passed in recent memory -- it's right up there with the Patriot Act as laws that do nothing to help anyone on the planet but lawyers and people who want to take away your rights. I firmly believe in intellectual property rights, however there are sane ways to do it and stupid ways. This was a really stupid way. It also proves the most uncrackable systems are easily broken -- this crack was done by some kid on an unmodified Xbox 360 almost by accident. Yeah, it was that easy and it was done using a video game? How stupid is the AACS-LA?

How big is this story? Well it's made every major news service around the world. Read one example on the New York Times. There is no reason these numbers wont expire and be replaced by newer keys, but let this be a lesson to you: never have a master back-door key, because some kid is smarter than you are. Especially if your organization is obscenely arrogant. What goes around, does indeed, come around.

I already own a number of Blu-Ray movies -- the format I hope wins the war -- and I play them using my PS/3 and a newer Sony TV so I have no motivation to try and hack them. First of all, I'd have to use Windows to do that and everyone knows I'd rather chew my arm off. And I don't encourage anyone to do this without a damn good reason, but I resent being told that I can't do that.

If I can rip my CD collection and store it on my hard drive so I can listen to it in iTunes, who the fuck are the AACS and the MPAA to tell me I can't do the same with my movies if I wanted to. A great quote from Josh who runs the Blu-Ray website -- the AACS-LA, he says, "has proven to be as effective as a screen door on a submarine."

Will I get a cease-and-desist letter for posting this? I suppose it's possible but I have altered the code slightly so it doesn't work. It's really crap this whole DRM thing -- as a consumer you're being shafted. You buy something and you should be able to do whatever you want with it (within reason). What's next? A movie that will only play on your DVD player and not on your friend's? Movies will end up like software -- you'll have to jump through hoops to use them. Maybe the MPAA is taking lessons from the RIAA? At least it would explain their stupidity.

Kris Medina and IMDB

Many of you here know my friend Thomas. We've been friends since we were in Boy Scouts together -- way back in the late 70s and early 80s. I actually knew his brother Kris for a few weeks before I ended up meeting Thomas. I've always been in touch with Kris -- most of my friends know Kris and Thomas and many who hadn't met them before met Kris at my 40th Birthday party in Las Vegas. What you may not know is Kris is a professional stuntman in Hollywood. I was surprised today to find he's got his very own IMDB page*http://imdb.com/name/nm0575729/

It's not up-to-date. I know it's missing his appearances on the TV show "Las Vegas" in season 3 as well as his turn in the PBS presentation of "Hopfrog" among others. He also got blown up in a movie but the name of that film escapes me. Anyway, I think it's fantastically cool I actually know someone who's got his own page on IMDB. So I'm basically bragging here :)

* Which I found because Evan asked me how to spell Kris' name.