June 30/03                                                                            More in weblog archive
	Final "Hit and Run" video? Two full days of working to get 13 seconds of pure Flash animation and I think I may have the final final. I delivered it to Keith Gillard for him to look at. I really think this is it. Samurai attack in Irvine, CA Other people aren't too happy today I noticed. In Irvine, CA a disgruntled employee attacked people in a supermarket with a samurai sword, killing two and injuring others. While horrifying, I liked that other employees tried to stop him with whatever they had on hand including trash can lids and barbecue utensils. I hope this doesn't put a cramp into my Lady-X short.

	June 29/03                                                                            More in weblog archive
	Slap Happy This video clip shows some new Japanese arcade game where you basically slap the hell out of the console buttons to classical music. Looks like at least your arms will get a workout.

	June 28/03                                                                            More in weblog archive
	Lego characters It's really beautiful and hot outside but I am indoors? Why, because I am drawing Lego characters to fill in a missing 18 seconds of the Fidgital video. It turned out after I retimed it to the music for the third time that I had 18 seconds to fill (I had to cut out some stuff to make it fit). Here's me, for example.

	June 27/03                                                                            More in weblog archive
	SLEEPLESS TOWN (1998)  IMDB dir. Cheng Ngai Li starring: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Mirai Yamamoto Cheng Ngai Li's film set in the Chinese underworld community in Shinjuku is a tightly directed neo-noir featuring Takeshi Kaneshiro as a half-Taiwanese half-Japanese freelancer who is being pressed on all sides by factions who want to see him take sides. Playing a character similar to Tom Regan in Miller's Crossing, Takeshi Kaneshiro is a small-timer known to everyone, who is trying to rebuild his credit after his former partner skipped town but not before shooting a prominent gangster. When it is learned that his partner has returned under mysterious circumstances, he is given an order to find and kill him. His search is further complicated when he is contacted by a woman claiming to be his partner's girlfriend (the gorgeous Mirai Yamamoto). In good noir fashion, this complication becomes a source of sexual tension as he agrees to use her as bait. Considering it is essentially a work for hire by director Cheng Ngai Li, Sleepless Town is a totally classy film filled with beautiful dreamy shots, wonderful personal scenes and a really steamy connection between the two co-stars. The neo noir formula has never worked quite so well as in the neon lit alleys, restaurants and rooftops of Shinjuku, even as the stereotypical Yakuza elbow their way through crowds or the pony-tailed Takeshi Kaneshiro pays his respects in crowded backroom mob hangouts. Centered amongst the playful conventions of hammy, posturing criminals is the grinning but entrancing romance between Takeshi Kaneshiro and Mirai Yamamoto. Her nymph-like but cunning byplay slowly pulling together a more complex scheme draws in the gruff freelancer who is aware that he is being fooled.  He falls in love with her because we can't but fall in love with her. The final act becomes a bit of a test for the viewer who has to sort out a jumble of characters and factions but the resolving scene, on a wharf with just the two co-stars embracing one last time under the eyes of the gangsters is a memorable, rich resolution. The DVD from Poker Industries is non-anamorphic and the image quality is so-so. The extras include a handy chart showing the connections between the main characters and factions in the Chinese underworld. You may need it to make sense of the 'sorting out' of characters in the final act. Ten Appalling Lies We were Told about Iraq This is a good sum up of ten so far unproven claims trumpeted by the Bush administration before and during the Iraqi war to drum up support. From Alternet >>

	June 26/03                                                                            More in weblog archive
	Texas Sodomy Law struck down The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday voted that a Texas law that held that gay sex was a crime violated due process. What is amazing about the 6-3 vote is that conservative Justice Antonin Scalia in his dissenting opinion actually used the words 'homosexual agenda' . "The court has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda," Scalia wrote for the three, according to the AP. He took the unusual step of reading his dissent from the bench. "The court has taken sides in the culture war," Scalia said, adding that he has "nothing against homosexuals." I don't find it particuarly surprising that Scalia holds those opinions but for a Supreme Court Justice to publicly use the same terms as used by fundamentalist demagogues really makes me worry for the state of U.S. justice. Scalia really shows he's no better than the Taliban, only he has to contend with the votes of his peers. The good news is that the state of Texas can't actually now arrest gay men for what they do in the privacy of their bedrooms which was the case that started the long process.

	June 24/03                                                                            More in weblog archive
	How two students built an A-bomb This is a good story in the Guardian about how two physics post-docs in the 60s who knew nothing about constructing an atomic bomb were assigned a secret project by the U.S. to find out how easy it would be for intelligent amateurs to construct one based upon publicly available information. How easy, you ask? Well you'll have to read it here >>

	June 23/03                                                                            More in weblog archive
	On seeing The Hulk Saturday I saw the latest comic book movie, Ang Lee's The Hulk. It was easily one of the most tepid comic adaptations I've seen. For a concept that was based upon one of the more simple One of the most tepid comic adaptations I've seen. and destructive Marvel characters, The Hulk movie was actually boring in parts. The dialogue for the character was very poor as did the delivery of the actors. When the actual Hulk character was on the screen destroying sets, it was fine. The one scene that really projected the joy of the Hulk's destructive nature - the desert chase with the military vs the Hulk - was bookended with too many scenes hammering the psychological conflict into the audience. Underwhelming. A disappointment considering the great love I bear for Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. On the other hand, I was genuinely interested in his decision to use visual montage in the complicated shots. I found it at first bewildering, but later got into the flow of the moving panels.

	June 21/03                                                                            More in weblog archive
	I've been 'imitated' Shameless. Yesterday I was disturbed and amazed by the discovery that another company was blatantly riffing my employers' brand Clipstream. Do a comparison. Look at Clipstream.com and then look at this page for the product "Snipstream". Not only is the technology similar, but their logo is obviously quite similar to my Clipstream logo. Obviously, this will not do. In the software industry having your technology examined by competitors is a fact of life, however, to do so in such a shameless manner, keeping basically the same logo but twisted 90 degrees and having almost the same brand name is amazing.

	June 16/03                                                                            More in weblog archive
	Toshiro Mifune doll - casting for Lady X Lone Wolf doll. Check out Cub too. Dylan and I are finalizing the Lady-X script and we have a good idea who we want for parts in the short. There are four major parts and they all require some martial arts. You can see what we want here on our Lady-X page. As I was looking for references I came across this odd Toshiro Mifune doll from I don't know where or when. Lots of cool samurai dolls here >>

	June 16/03                                                                            More in weblog archive
	HARAKIRI (1962) IMDB dir. Masaki Kobayashi starring: Tatsuya Nakadai A film by the director of Kwaidan, Masaki Kobayashi. This 1962 film is a real find. A samurai film on par with any of the classic parables by Kurosawa. At the beginning of the film an ageing samurai named Tsugumo Hanshiro who has had his clan abolished by the Shogunate appears at the gates of the prosperous Iyi clan with a request that he be allowed to commit harakiri at the attendance of the Iyi men. Explaining that he has found living in poverty intolerable, he asks the lord for use of the Iyi compound for the ritual ceremony. The lord of the Iyi attempts to dissuade him by telling the tale of a previous samurai, who, many years before, came to the estate with the very same request. It seems that it has become a practice for many wandering samurai to extort money from well off clans by threatening suicide. However, in the case of the previous samurai, the Iyi clan decided to make a lesson of him by forcing him to carry through on his threat. After hearing the excruciating story of the first samurai, Tsugumo Hanshiro responds with a tale of his own. So begins a deeply absorbing story of how fragile the samurai system of values really is when faced with true circumstances and the hypocrisy of human nature. There is much to recommend about this film. Masaki Kobayashi's direction is masterful. Sweeping camera movements, slow dollies, emotional composition fill what is essentially a static set up (men sitting, telling each other stories) with motion. The ability of Kobayashi to establish a physical setting as a stage for moral theatre deserves to be studied. The initial building up of shots of the empty clan castle. The focus on the Iyi ancestral armour - another empty shell of the clan's so-called honour is another important concept.A duel near the end of the film is filmed on a windy plain (also featured in Kurosawa's Sanshiro Sugata), each opponent contrasted against mountains and storm clouds. That scene is a wonder of composition.  In the central role of Tsugumo Hanshiro, Tatsuya Nakadai in a much younger role than his Lord Hidetora from Ran has three good performances in one, a proud feudal retainer, then a desperate former samurai stricken by circumstances but still hamstrung by his pride, and a vengeful storyteller come to lay the samurai code bare to its hypocrisies. His driven expressions stress the extent of his character's emotions. As he takes on all the retainers of clan Iyi at once in the final scene, his face is a torment. The second act is a bit slow, to be sure, as the story that Tsugumo Hanshiro tells is not as much of a revelation as it is meant to be. So your mind is racing ahead to the final act. For all the wonder of the composition of the duel on the windy plains, the actual fighting is flaccid (though redeemed by the battle in the Iyi clan castle at the end). Some may not stick around after cringing through the suicide of the first warrior which occurs under excruciating circumstances and graphically shown. The DVD by Panorama Industries (HK) suffers from a poor print and is not anamorphic. The subtitles have grammar problems but aren't totally laughable. From Poker Industries. Previous blog here >>