Google has confirmed that it is working on augmented reality glasses which one day might let you send instant messages, get directions, snap photos and more from a clear display over your eye.
Don’t you just love it when science fiction becomes science fact? I know that I go ga-ga for future tech but this has got to be one of the coolest things to look forward to. However, the problems lies, how can they overcome areas where you can’t get a signal? Or worse, how much are the data plans going to cost us all? With AT&T bandwidth throttling with current smartphones, I can only imagine the complications users will face.
Looking over the video, which is clever, I have two issues: how will this work if you have glasses? Does this replace your specs or do you have to wear them over your regular glasses like those stupid 3D glasses? 2nd – Since the video showed a “Facetime” like phone call, how can the person see your face if the video feed shows what the glases are seeing? Which leads into this thought, video piracy. Are theaters going to stop people from wearing glasses fearing that the movie can be recorded? It does remind me of the special contact lenses as seen in Torchwood.
As watching the Today show most mornings, I would come across a story which has some scifi twist. The news piece was about strange booming noise in Clintonville, WI. Apparently this has been going on for the past three nights. To add to the spookiness, the intro to the piece has the X-Files theme song playing; hokey…yes. Below is the said video and at the two minute mark is where the title for this blog entry came from.
Needless to say, I thought the old lady was off her rocker with that statement. After a good laugh, I went looking for this video to post it for your viewing pleasure. However, in the process, I came across other videos which described similar events in other parts of the country and the world. WTF?!?
I had also found a site which documented these boom events around the world. Click here. The video below is in Spanish but there are English subtitles. This event was in Costa Rica which is tagged on the map above.
I don’t want to think there is more to this like the magnetic poles are shifting or the military experimenting with alien technology or the almighty sending us a message. I want to think that this is just some type of natural phenomena that has yet to be figured out. In the year of doom, thanks Mayans and your stoopid calendar, I feel this will only heighten many fears. All I know is that I will really pissed when this comes to fruition because I will miss the next Star Trek movie as directed by J.J. Abrams.
Every once in a while I come across one of those driveway moments where I am listening to NPR. Those who are familiar with term will understand the meaning but let me explain away. You are in your car, either driving home or doing an errand and you’re listening to the radio. Just when you pull up to the driveway, your favorite song or piece of news comes on that makes you just sit in your car in your driveway just for a couple of minutes – hence the driveway moment. For my moment, it came to me when I had to pick up my daughter from summer camp. Just as I was pulling up in the parking space, there was a segment on Radio Lab called Desperately Seeking Symmetry in which there was discussion about “The Hair Part.” So, what’s the deal with Superman?
When you look in a mirror, you are looking at reverse image of yourself. If you have hair parted on one side, the mirror image would have the same hair part but on the opposite side. If you look closer at the Superman movie with Christopher Reeve you will quickly notice the hair part. As Clark, Kal-El has his hair part on the right side and as Superman, the hair part is moved to the left. Yes, we know they are the same person but there is when you look at them they look like two completely different people.
Doing a little research, I came across this study which discusses the hair part issue which delves into their meaning.
A left hair part draws unconscious attention to the activities that are controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain, i.e. activities traditionally attributed to masculinity. A right hair part draws unconscious attention to the activities that are controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain, i.e. activities traditionally attributed to femininity.
A man who parts his hair on the right, and who is striving for positive assessment in a traditionally male role is at risk for having difficulties in interpersonal relationships, since he is sending a mixed, subconscious message by emphasizing the activities of the brain traditionally attributed to femininity.
Now, having all this and listened to the podcast, I really believe in this theory but there is a flaw. What happens if you have no hair and happened to be bald like Lex and me? The theory doesn’t apply to men like me or does it? Lucky for me there is an attribute for baldness.
*No part, center part or bald: Perceived as balanced, trustworthy and wise. Downside: Can lack flair associated with other types.
I don’t want to sound heartless but this Spiderman production on Broadway is being an even bigger joke than the picture with this entry. Over the months, I followed this story and there appears to be no end in making this show work. At this time, I don’t believe this happen. Yet, I would be remissed in saying, this appears to be the main draw for people to plunk down there cold hard cash to see something go wrong. I want to believe that watching Spiderman on Broadway should not be equated like waiting a spectacular car crash happen in an Indy 500 race but let’s face reality; those are not comic book fans in those seats.
In a 60 minutes interview director Julie Taymor did mentioned this thought which I though best explains her way of thinking:
Taymor explains that she embraces the challenges of such a big, risky show. “I love it when people say ‘What a horrible, lousy idea.’ I think that’s great,” Taymor says. “I hate the comfort zone. … I don’t think that anything that’s really creative can be done without danger and risk.”
I get it. I couldn’t agree more with this approach. Sometimes you can make a successful transition from one medium to another and not necessarily be tied to the original material. For example, after Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Nemesis the franchise needed a big break. Aside from the break, the franchise needed something new and fresh; J.J. Abrams was the answer. I was troubled at first when I heard that he was more of a Star Wars fan rather than Star Trek. However, he did bring a fresh new approach to Trek which I loved and embraced. This is how I see Julie but that ended today.
The news bit about the need for a comic book writer to polish the script for the production is troubling for me. I have read how the Second Act failed to really move the story along but come on; this is something that should not be an issue still today. I can not see how a producer would give the go ahead to a project that wasn’t polished. Yes, re-writes happen all the time but this is beyond of what I believe is acceptable.
So, who are they going to get as a the comic book writer: Bendis, Moore, Straczynski, Metzler? How about Stan “The Man” Lee? If you’re going down this road, why not get the father of Spiderman?
Producers of the off-Broadway play (which has made headlines for injuries during rehearsals and several negatively reviewed previews) are looking to comic book writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to come in and help with the script, according to the New York Times.
A deal isn’t in place yet for the former Marvel writer to work on the script, but the Times reports that conversations are on-going.
Spider-Man, the most expensive production in Broadway history, has been panned by critics from The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times and The Washington Post, among others.
What does Mad Men have to do with this blog or have anything in common with scifi? Well, there are several connection to Mad Men but for me, sometimes its more than just the connection. Sometimes you have to give yourself a break comics, movies, and crappy scifi movies. Not that I love watching my genre to death but there are times where you have to expand your horizons. I am always of the mind to expand an actor’s work. For example, Jeff Bridges is in the upcoming Tron Legacy and if I were to not check out his previous acting outings, I would be missing out on some great talent. Luckily, aside from the 1976 Kong remake, there was Starman (I know, scifi but…), Tucker, The Fisher King, and Fearless. There are others but I am going to explore his career later this year before I see Tron. What I am getting at, take a look beyond scifi and be captivated.
Since Mad Men is going on its fourth season, I am still in search of the Carousel moment. If you have been a faithful watcher of this series then you will know what I am talking about. If not, this YouTube clip above will give you a taste of a brilliant and unsurpassed moment in television history (To me, it is a classic moment in tv history.) When Don Draper (Jon Hamm) pitches the ad about Kodak’s Carousel Slide Projector he does it in a way that is touching and heartbreaking at the same time. I don’t want to explain the whole series, the whole mise en scene is spot on perfect from the casting to the lighting. I can not get enough of this show simply because it is so well done.
Alright moving now to the scifi connection, sort of, Jon Hamm will be in the upcoming Zack (300, Watchmen) Synder’s Sucker Punch (which I’m sure there will be more news coming from Comic Con.) Here is a brief description:
Zack Snyder is in production on “Sucker Punch” for Warner Bros. through Cruel and Unusual Films. He will direct and he co–wrote the screenplay along with Steve Shibuya, adapted from Snyder’s original story. Deborah Snyder will produce, with Wes Coller executive producing for Cruel and Unusual Films. “Sucker Punch” is an epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl, whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her but her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary…with potentially tragic consequences. Born from the creative mind of filmmaker Zack Snyder, the film features ensemble cast including Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino, Oscar Issac with Scott Glenn and Jon Hamm.
Zack Snyder is returning to the Imax format as Warner Bros. Pictures has slotted “Sucker Punch 3D” into a March 25, 2011 release on the super-sized screen. The booking, alongside the conventional release for “Sucker Punch 3D,” is part of a recent 20-picture distribution deal between Warner Bros. and Toronto-based Imax through 2013.
This next connection is a stretch but you will have to bear with my insanity. In season three, Don encounters Mr. Conrad Hilton, (you know, the hotels and the slut Paris). Don comes up with an almost “Carousel” pitch which I thought was very clever but this next YouTube clip show what Don missed.
Don did not give Mr. Hilton the Moon and lost the account. Had he the hindsight, he should have said these two words: “Product Placement.” Huh? Exactly, product placement. In episode above, the time frame was September 1963. Now, if you look below, from the classic Stanley Kubrick 2001: A Space Odyssey, we see a Hilton in space very near the Moon; which came out, (drum roll please) in April 1968. Granted, some 5 years later it’s not exactly the perfect fit but the whole idea of product placement in a futuristic movie would have been the perfect way to capture the imagination of their target audience and thereby saving the account for Sterling Cooper.
So, too much? WTF? I really don’t care if you get what I’m saying but do yourself a favor, watch this series from the beginning; you will thank me later. In closing, you know a series has made it when you see a parody of the series on another show. Take a look at the Simpson’s Mad Men opening. Very cool.
I know that the news doesn’t appear to be a definite but come on. I don’t want to know that come 2012, the year everything gets destroyed, that we may have another new Doctor. Granted, I can see this as a ploy to increase angst and fan worship to get him a better contract. However, if he claims that Hollywood is calling him, two words, Jeffrey Hunter.
Those who are familiar with the Star Trek lore will recognize the name of Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike in the first Trek pilot. When the studio passed on this pilot but ordered a second, Jeffrey opted out to concentrate on his movie career. We then get William Shatner as Captain Kirk and the rest is scifi history. With Jeffrey, studio contracts were become a thing of the past and Jeffrey had a less than stellar career from then on. I’m not saying this can happen to Matt but we know that there is a finite time limit to play the role of the Doctor. Having said this, this is only a couple of times we can use the “Regeneration” for another Doctor. I think this would be a big blow to the franchise where they could have continued the series for another 10 to 20 years for a new generation of fans.
The UK press is reporting that Doctor No. 11, Matt Smith is looking to leave the role after his sophomore year on the program. Metro.co.uk reports: …a friend of his told The Sun of his big American dream which is likely to shock BBC bosses: ‘Matt plans to quit after the next series.’ ‘He is eager to try new things and thinks Hollywood be … Read More
Being on a Dr. Who fix with BBC America, I could not help to compare the face of Boe with a picture of a statue I took outside a musuem in Washington D.C. some time ago. Okay, it was a stretch and I do have better separated @ birth pics but I wanted to bring up something I heard on a podcast about Dr. Who. I listened to the last podcast # 49 from the Lipstick Aliens in which they discussed the idea of the next doctor to be black. Their choice was Chiwetel Ejiofor – The Operative from Serenity. Considering his performance in that film was incredible plus seeing him in the Children of Men; I would have to conclude that he would make an excellent choice to make the Doctor slightly different albiet the skin color. Chris and David have made their own Dr. Who unique and seperate but I think there needs to be a change to cross the color border or even, what if the new Doctor were to be a women?
James Bond’s M which had male actors for the longest time until Dame Judi Dench took over the role in the last serval films. She not only brought in a higher caliber of acting and presence to the M role but she also had set James Bond in a new direction to bring him up to date. With a black or female Doctor this not only adds another dimension to this time traveling icon but lend itself to a greater audience appeal.
FYI – Since I am on Series 2 of Dr. Who, I just finished watching the Tooth and Claw episode at the time on this entry. While the episode was good, the ending with Queen Victoria was f*&^ing incredible with her launching the Torchwood Institute. Man, I am so happy these two series for they have restored my love of quality scifi. Long live BBC America.
