(I was having problems posting to this blog for months...finally figured out what's wrong, so following are some long overdue entries!)

Today the Silent Film Festival hosted something not entirely silent, it was a program of early and formative Disney Silly Symphonies. Yes, yes, I know. Silly Symphonies aren't silent. Bur the films exhibited spanned the awkward era of the transition from silents to sound, so it was suitable subject matter of the Silent Film organization. I'd forgotten about the program until Becky reminded me of it a few days earlier. I asked Jim Shelton and his girlfriend (also Becky) to go, as well as co-worker Rob and his girlfriend. I also asked John-O to go, but he was too busy, but did offer to join for brunch. The day started with John beating us (myself, Jim and the two Beckys) to Ti Couz for crepes. After stuffing ourselves we lost John and headed for the Castro. I bought tickets while Jim got a haircut. After some window shopping and the purchase of a mooing can fort Jim's Becky (don't ask), we got in line for the film. This was Jim and Becky's first time at the Castro, and luckily the organist was playing before the show. Rob and Stephanie showed up just before the curtain rose, and had to leave right after the film due to a two hour parking meter limit. Hi...bye!

The films were fun, if crude.  Many I had not actually seen before, but knew of from all the books on animation I read in the 80s and 90s.  Technically brilliant for their time, as in typical of Disney films, some still left me a little underwhelmed in their entertainment value. As much of a film history buff as I can be, I often find Disney shorts to be cloying.  After the film there was a panel discussion about the them. I didn't get much from it, as I've read extensively on the subject, and I outright disagreed with a few points (no, there was nothing innovative about a character moving towards the camera and into extreme close-up, even in 1929...it was a common gag). Still, some of the films were fun, and I'm glad I went.

Afterwards we went to Cafe Flore for a post-cinema refreshment, and after returning Jim and his Becky to their abode, my Becky and I went to the ocean and watched the sunset. Since our lateness out of the Castro caused her to miss her dinner plans, there was nothing for it but a margarita at Tommy's (and food).  We tried a tequila I'd not had in a long time, but neither of us was hot on it, so we won't be having that one again in a margarita.

Posted by molyneaux at 12:01 AM PST

Updated: Tuesday, 19 May 2009 11:08 PM PDT

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Tonight I watched the newly released "Superman II: The Donner Cut" tonight. I've been wanting to see this ever since I (years ago) discovered that the bulk of Superman II was shot at the same time as Superman: The Movie, but that Director Richard Donner had not been brought back to finish II, and instead, Richard Lester (A Hard Day's Night) reshot huge portions for the film.

This DVD makes a best effort to reconstruct the film that Donner intended. It's far from perfect, and many compromises had to be made because some portions of the original script never got shot, BUT, flawed as it is, it's a vast improvement over the theatrically released Lester version. The campiness and goofy comedy is downplayed or eliminated. The opening is completely different, and things set up in the first film are paid off; previously unusued Marlon Brando footage materialized at last.

 As a film buff, it's fascinating to see two versions of the same material, and how different the versions of the film are.

Super!

Posted by molyneaux at 12:01 AM PST

Updated: Wednesday, 20 May 2009 1:31 AM PDT

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Yesterday I had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with my friend Patrick and his other half Donald in Castro Valley. Stuffed myself with traditional T-Day fare and perhaos a tad too much red wine. They just got back from a trip to China. Makes me realize how little traveling I've done of late. I definitely need a proper vacation.

Left their place and went to meet Terry and Carol for another dinner. This time the food wasn't typical T-day fare (I certainly didn't need more turkey), nor were the drinks (margaritas). Carol then cracked open a $100 bottle of tequila...which we proceded NOT to put in margaritas.

Now it's Friday and Terry and Carol and I have plans to go see a movie.  I call Skip in the morning to see if he wants to join us, so he BARTs over from Berkeley and I pick him up in the Mission.  We have some time to kill before the film, so I park by the windmill and we take stroll along Ocean Beach, and then back through the end of Golden Gate Park. It's a little cool, but not bad, and beautiful for a late November day. I definitely do not get down to the beach enough, despite being a short walk from it!

After picking up Terry and Carol we go to the local Balboa Theater for the film. Despite being less than a thousand feet from my door, I'd never been before. It's a cute old theater with old-time advertisements in lobby. Sadly, like many such old theaters, to make ends meet they'd cut the theater proper into two smaller theaters. The film we came to see is "For Your Consideration". The film is about what happens to an indie film's cast and crew when the Oscar buzz starts aroud their production "Home for Purim". Terry introduced me to the Christopher Guest mockumentary type films via "Waiting for Guffaman", and we saw "A Mighty Wind" together in 2003, and then saw the live show "A Mighty Wind Live" at the Warfield Theater at the end of that year, so we have these films in common. Although not shot in the documentary style as the other pictures, this one's very much in the same vein, and we have a good time with it.  The ending's a little darker than the other films by this group, but perfectly attuned to the subject matter.

After dropping off Terry and Carol, Skip and I decide we are famished, and seek some post-cinema sustenance.  I can tell I drank too much yesterday, because although Skip and I stop at Tommy's, my body is telling me "no drinks". Me? At Tommy's? And no tequila?  Put me to bed now!

Posted by molyneaux at 12:01 AM PST

Updated: Tuesday, 19 May 2009 11:09 PM PDT

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Mood:  energetic

“Happy Happy! Joy Joy!” today I attended two parts of a retrospective of the work of animator/director John Kricfalusi (pronounced kris-fa-loosi), best known at the creator of Ren & Stimpy, but whom originally came to my attention as the Sr. Director on 1987-88’s seminal Mighty Mouse the New Adventures.

 

The first show was a “Gross but pure and Christian, child-safe matinée of rollicking cartoons for the children and celibate alike!" and advertised as “Safe, clean, gross and sparkly entertainment!” It contained a few of my favorite cartoons, kicking off with the brilliant “Stimpy’s Invention” and including the classic Mighty Mouse segment, “Night of the Bat-Bat”. The latter was my first introduction to the character who has remained a running gag for 16 years between my friend Tom and myself: The Cow.

 

Oh, did I mention that John K. was hosting the program? Did I mention that I chatted with him in front of the theater before the show as he did caricatures for all the kids who asked? Did I mention that he drew The Cow for me?

“How do you like them apples, Mighty Mouse? Ha, ha-ha... Moo!!!”

 

I asked John if The Cow was his creation. Yep. He mentioned that The Cow was voiced by Michael Pataki, who also voices his George Liquor character, which I also knew. He then told me that Pataki delivered The Cow's lines all wrong and didn't emphasize the jokes, so they re-animated the character to emphasize his weird pauses.

 

Anyway, after the matinee, I was joined by some co-workers and we went out for refreshments and to go over the Snoopy and the Red Baron game that we are finishing up at Namco. After pizza, we returned for the evening show, whereupon we were joined there by my friends Matt, and Christopher and Russ.

 

The shows were held at the Castro Theater, and the organsit played before the evening program. Ironically, as I came in from the snack counter, he was playing (but not that well) "Linus & Lucy", which is in our Snoopy game!

 

The evening show was billed as “ADULT: Rare, unseen and banned cartoons for adults highlighting each of the 7 deadly sins!” Well, not entirely accurate, but definitely not for the kiddies or those easily offended. John K’s understanding of comic timing and his take-it-past-the-limit approach results in his pushing the material so far over the top that I couldn’t help laughing at things that in most animators’ hands would just be puerile and tedious.

 

Both the matinee and evening shows featured John K’s hilarious take on Yogi Bear in which “Boo Boo Runs Wild” (if you ever wanted to see Ranger Smith and Yogi beat the crap out of each other, this is the cartoon for you). The best bits of the evening show were the Ren & Stimpy entries: the nearly unimaginable “Naked Beach Frenzy”; a segment from “Stimpy’s Pregnant”; and an animatic of an unproduced episode called “Life Sucks”, in which Ren reads a ‘Little Olden Book’ on the Children’s Crusade to an increasingly horrified Stimpy. Also screened was the cartoon which caused Nickelodeon to fire John K. from his own show -- “Man’s Best Friend” -- which features a slow-motion Raging Bull-esque sequence of Ren beating his abusive “master” with an oar!. The final bonus was a sneak preview of an animated video for Weird Al Yankovic’s new album.

 

During the matinée a group of Pee Wee Herman impersonators accosted John and invited him to a Pee Wee Party in the Mission. John told us about it, but my crew decided to forego Pee-Wee in favor of a nightcap.

 

...Besides, I got John K.'s business card. I'll buy him a drink some other time.

 

Moo! Moo!

Posted by molyneaux at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Wednesday, 20 May 2009 1:22 AM PDT

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Mood:  surprised

My lengthy morning commute to San Jose is usually a fairly uneventful affair, with most of it along the very pretty drive on Interstate 280 through rolling tree-lined hills and past various reservoirs (reservoii?).

This morning, minutes short of reaching Silicon Valley, I found myself behind slightly slower traffic... a flock of about 10 pigeons were traveling in the right lane of the freeway, roughly at windshield height, and moving with traffic. I slowed down when I saw them in front of me, expecting they would move out of the way as I approached. Nope. They just kept on flappin' down the road. After a few monments I changed lanes and passed them on the left. When I looked into my rearview mirror, there they were, still flying down their lane.

I wonder if they shifted to the HOV lane a few miles ahead. If so, I suspect they didn't signal the lane change...

Posted by molyneaux at 11:02 AM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 19 May 2009 11:09 PM PDT

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My friend Jim's visit from New York is coming to a close tomorrow, so we have one last major site to see: The Golden Gate Bridge. Yes, I know, we drove across it twice and looked down upon it from the Marin headlands last Wednesday, but that's not the same thing as what I have in mind.

We manage to get going early enough to get into the Ti Couz creperie before there's a line, and after a crepey breakfast Brittany style, we head for the Golden Gate. I park in a lot above Fort Point, which, albeit a bit farther away, doesn't have parking meters limiting our stay. It's a very San Francisco day, and the fog's a-rollin' in. We can't see much above the bridge roadway, and it's tough to see the far side of the bridge at all, but limited visibility's not going to stop us!

I've walked the bridge a number of times before, but never in fog quite like thus, so this is a treat. The towers appear and disappear from view and the wind shifts. It's a tad chilly, but not as bad as I expect. Before we reach the first of the two towers I notice a sea lion swimming into the bay almost directly below us. It's fun to see it surface and disappear from above. I don't get a pic, but Jim tries.

 

Atlas Shrugged

At the middle of the bridge we take silly pictures because it's the one spot you can reach out and touch on of the two main cables. It's these surprisingly skinny strands (less than three feet) that hold up the entire roadway. From this point we look noreth and sound and find we can't see either of the towers. The road and cables just vanish into the fog in either direction. It's like a road to nowhere.

As we cross we look down on various boats anf ships passing beneath. It sure doesn't look over 200 feet straight down!

Of the far side we take a break at sit outside the rest stop there. The trouble with walking the bridge is that you have to walk back! The fog starts to thin on the return, which allows us to better see the bay and the scenery. However, my attention quickly goes straight down when I notice that the old post holes in the sidewalk near the roadway go ALL THE WAY through the walk, and if you peek through, you can see straight down through the bridge. So, every 20 feet or so where these holes are, I'm bending to take a peek. I quickly figure out that I can stick the lens of my camera into the holes and take pictures. The hole itself makes a nicve little vignette effect, and I end up with a series of unusual images that I doubt most people who cross the bridge ever see.

 

 

Watch that first step! It's 24 stories straight down!
After reaching the car, we head to the Marina and the Palace of Fine Arts for the usual photo op. Afterwards, Jim wants a picture down the winding bit of Lobard, so I use my knowledge of S.F. streets to bypass the line of tourist cars and right to the target in a matter of minutes. From there, it's on to Coit Tower for some more photos, and my having to stop some old man who can't steer from banging into my car in the parking lot.

Dinner's at Nivana in the Castro. We got back home at a semi-reasonable hour, for probably the only time this trip!

Posted by molyneaux at 4:46 PM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 19 May 2009 11:11 PM PDT

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This morning I’m driving Scott and some of the members of our Japanese sister company to the show. The Neverlost system goes bananas again. It can’t figure out where we are. Fortunately, having driven this route before, I’m able to do it by memory, and we get there with no issues.

Probably the only thing in the consumer videogame arena I’m really interested in seeing is the Nintendo Wii (pronounced “We”). Unfortunately, for mii to sii the Wii was not meant to bii this E-Thrii. I did try, though! Using the magic of mobile phone technology I tracked down by good friend Alyssa Finley, and after a brief look at the Playstation 3 (boring...look, we can render mud more realistically on HDTVii), we decided to try to sii the Wii. Unfortunatelii, the line to get in was thrii hours long! I visited with Alyssa until I had to run off to a meeting I had misentered on my calendar, leaving her to wait 2.5+ hours without mii.

So, what’s no interesting about the Wii? Well, the one thing I really respect Nintendo for is their focus on pure gameplay, and that they’re aiming to break some of the conventions of the industry with this new console. Instead of aiming to push the most polygons on the screen, they’re aiming for a low-cost machine with a simple controller with really fun games. The controller, which look not unlike a TV remote, is actually waved around. Swing it to bat a ball in baseball or serve in tennis. Point it at the TV like a gun then you shoot.

Today’s my second day hosting the PAC-MAN Tournament, but this time I go all out and don the big shouldered authentic 80s jacket I brought along with narrow leather zip-on tie. Now I really fit in with our 80s booth babes. At first I try to get the babes to co-host with me, but none give it quite the “oomph” it needs, even with the megaphone, so I take it over and play EmCee again...just louder than yesterday! PAC-MAN and Ms. PAC-MAN make another celebrity visit, and I compliment the Ms. on her sexy pink boots.

That tournament done, I’m asked to EmCee a spontaneous Time Crisis tournament, and spend the next 20 minutes walking around announcing, “Time Crisis tournament on now! Get the top score of the tournament and win this prize: Time Crisis 3 for Playstation 2 with Guncon!”

I end the day meeting a potential candidate for a job at our company, and walking through our comptetitors’ booths with him. In two words: we rock! Our booth and presentation shows we’re the company that takes this most seriously. The guy seems good. Seems to know his stuff. Will bring him to our office for a proper interview sometime after the show.

Posted by molyneaux at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 19 May 2009 11:12 PM PDT

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