tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123674562009-10-19T11:35:46.413-05:00This blog embraces my inner lemming. Lemmings do not commit suicide, collectively, altruistically, metaphorically or otherwise. Filmmakers chased the independent-minded little buggers over the cliff for entertainment and profit. In short, the lemmings were pushed. For the lemmings' story, see my first post.dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.comBlogger136125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-89730648600987732112007-01-14T12:07:00.000-06:002007-01-14T12:08:52.990-06:00

A comment only smokers or former smokers understand: "I don't like the smell of cigarette smoke, I just like smoking."

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-17382809704715923952007-01-07T18:38:00.000-06:002007-01-07T19:09:35.149-06:00

This weekend we traveled further into the provincial areas of our state of residence than we have done previously. A phrase comes to mind, offered by Alfred Sully (1864): "hell with the fires out."Two other things.1) Up until this weekend I'd never seen exits signs that had this warning attached: No Services. I'm pretty the region should have more of these signs, even for exits which presumably

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-83263770974624760472007-01-04T22:32:00.000-06:002007-01-04T22:49:27.585-06:00

Observational wisdom offered over the family holidays:"The reason she likes three-buck Chuck (a cheap wine from Trader Joe's) so much is that she uses wine mostly for medicinal purposes."Ahhhh, family....It's good to be blogging again, hopefully regularly. This semester has got to be better than last. Plus, my expectations are heightened because I've heard so much wonderful news in the past week

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1165905140345723242006-12-12T00:19:00.000-06:002006-12-12T01:20:56.373-06:00

The New Yorker's "Critic at Large" article this week, written by film critic Anthony Lane, is on Walt Disney and the shifts in public and critical perception. It is, in part, a reaction to Neal Gabler's new biography, Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination.It's well worth reading, especially to chew on Lane's assertions about the critical turn in Disney Studies. I post it in

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1158725071226369082006-09-19T23:03:00.000-05:002006-09-19T23:04:31.243-05:00

One Gallon of Gas: $2.17(political capital gained during election season: Priceless)

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1158514528234883072006-09-17T12:32:00.000-05:002006-09-17T12:35:28.246-05:00

"I not only have issues, I have lifetime subscriptions."Oh, and "Don't be such a Negative Nancy, bitch." (One male to another.) I've never heard "Negative Nancy." I assume the term Nancy has the 19th-century connotations...can anyone confirm?

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1158388774834908102006-09-16T01:33:00.000-05:002006-09-16T01:39:35.040-05:00

Why? Because they amuse me. From my Disneyland trip.See more progress on: Take more pictures

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1156016305767342722006-08-19T14:09:00.000-05:002006-08-19T15:33:43.023-05:00

Random thoughts as I prepare for the new semester...--Why does the phone never ring when I actually want the distraction?--Pirates of the Carribean, the themed attraction at the Disney parks, might have been improved with the new additions, which were intended to create a closer aesethetic and narrative relationship beween the ride and the Johnny Depp films. But the effect of any themed

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1154304433009272622006-07-30T17:19:00.000-05:002006-07-30T19:07:13.486-05:00

I just got back late this week from my California trip, which included time spent in safari tour-guide mode at Disneyland and seeing Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest at El Capitan Theatre. I'll post more on these things later, but for now I wanted to draw your attention to a couple of blogs: both the Epcot Central blog and Re-Imagineered are well worth visiting for those interested in

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1153156937719699422006-07-17T11:47:00.000-05:002006-07-18T09:59:11.103-05:00

My theory on this show...Wicked is musical theatre for people who don't attend musical theatre regularly.Having just seen it, I'm dumbstruck by the over-the-top response of the audience. The show is mediocre at best: no striking numbers, unsophisticated characterization, and a weak and saccharine plot. And for those hoping for an adaptation that incorporated the most compelling ideas of Gregory

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1152810701102765992006-07-13T11:53:00.000-05:002006-07-13T12:32:50.180-05:00

I haven't been posting as regularly as I'd like recently, as I'm busy prepping for a research trip. Still, I couldn't resist telling you about the work of Michael Paulus. Paulus, a micromedia artist working out of Portland, has created a series called "Skeletal Systems" which features anatomical sketches of cartoon and comic characters.Included in his series of 22 are renderings of Charlie Brown

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1152475765454821702006-07-09T15:05:00.000-05:002006-07-09T15:33:11.320-05:00

Lawrence of Arabia (Limited Edition)Bold cinematography makes Lawrence of Arabia (1962) worth watching. Although its plot and characters are riveting, it is the film’s cinematography that stays with you. Director David Lean and cinematographer Freddie Young use the desert landscape to provide a sense of scope in this epic. Briefly, the film centers on the actions of T.E. Lawrence, a WWI British

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1151948312530586992006-07-03T12:34:00.000-05:002006-07-03T12:38:32.536-05:00

This Michael and Francis Higgins piece, a gift from my aunt, comes from my late uncle’s art studio. I spent time working side-by-side with him as a child, and it was only much later that I realized how significant it was that I was allowed in his studio. My uncle and his artist friends would often trade their “seconds” with each other, and this is one such example.See more progress on: Take more

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1151947615512721072006-07-03T12:23:00.000-05:002006-07-03T12:26:55.513-05:00

One lesson I’ve learned from my cats: sometimes all you need to make your day better is a good stretch!See more progress on: Take more pictures

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1151947171289844732006-07-03T12:15:00.000-05:002006-07-03T12:19:31.296-05:00

Not as tasty as an apple a day, but…See more progress on: Take more pictures

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1151691676924188182006-06-30T13:17:00.000-05:002006-06-30T13:21:17.010-05:00

My (mal)contented roommates.See more progress on: Take more pictures

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1151537167275637972006-06-28T18:11:00.000-05:002006-06-28T18:30:18.496-05:00

For those of you interested in Richard Linklater's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly, you may enjoy reading Josh Glenn's article in Slate. Here's an excerpt:"So, will Linklater's new, rotoscoped adaptation of A Scanner Darkly, starring Keanu Reeves as Arctor, reveal once and for all which side of Linklater's brain is the dominant one? That is, will Keanu and his drug buddies, played

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1151518654330642992006-06-28T13:13:00.000-05:002006-06-28T13:17:34.823-05:00

I love boxes and containers of all sorts. I love books. This was a perfect gift for me.See more progress on: Take more pictures

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1151447214449851582006-06-27T17:05:00.000-05:002006-06-27T17:29:24.786-05:00

Interested in learning more about animation as a process and as a business? Now that I've gotten back into my animation grove, I've been lucky enough to run across a few new sites. I've just started reading Mark Mayerson's blog, and highly recommend starting with his three-part series on Animators and Acting: part 1, part 2, and part 3. I'm not sure if there's more to come, but the series is well

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1151435025913633412006-06-27T14:00:00.000-05:002006-06-27T14:03:45.930-05:00

A daily commitment to my health and sanity.See more progress on: Take more pictures

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1151214660382503932006-06-24T23:50:00.000-05:002006-06-26T17:58:12.376-05:00

Update: Cast member reviews of the refurbished Pirates of the Caribbean have started to come in and, predictably, are pretty laudatory. Interestingly, they are also pretty conciliatory in terms of addressing guest concerns. I suspect the changes to the ride pretty much a non-issue with most of the general public, as well, and even many hard-core Disney fans. You can read the review, with spoilers

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1151357866285287622006-06-26T16:34:00.000-05:002006-06-26T16:39:49.533-05:00

Watched two more noir films recently:Murder, My Sweet (1944) is an adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s Farwewell, My Lovely. Directed by Edward Dmytryk, the film’s plot loosely centers on detective Phillip Marlowe (Dick Powell, not Humphrey Bogart) reluctantly working for ex-con Moose (Mike Mazurki), a big lug who’s looking for his missing tomato.The film is a quintessential noir, marked by dark

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1151345970589230582006-06-26T13:15:00.000-05:002006-06-26T13:24:07.123-05:00

In an effort to motivate myself to take more pictures, I’ve committed to posting a month-long series of bio-photos documenting the small moments of my everyday life. (What other kind of life would I have?)The first image captures the Sunday afternoon ritual that staves off the Sunday Night Blues.See more progress on: Take more pictures

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1151188100699461112006-06-24T17:23:00.000-05:002006-06-24T17:29:52.216-05:00

All information, including links, from The Disney Blog:"The Lost Girls" by graphic novelist Alan Moore ruffling some feathers"Graphic novelist Alan Moore (wikipedia), known for his 'Watchmen' and 'V for Vendetta' series, has published a series of graphic novels called "Lost Girls" featuring Wendy from Peter Pan, Alice from Alice in Wonderland, and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, in erotic trysts

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12367456.post-1151185823204356112006-06-24T16:44:00.000-05:002006-06-24T16:59:50.026-05:00

Anyone feel like sharing their warm and fuzzy memories? (Tom the Dancing Bug brought to you courtesy of Salon.com.)

dkphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614090600684878856noreply@blogger.com1