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May 1st, 2008
09:54 am - Can we please have a planet for just us sane people?
Ben Stein has made a movie decrying "big science's" oppression of the "smart new idea" of intelligent design. Unfortunately, he isn't trying to be a comedian this time.
http://expelledthemovie.com/
Folks, if you're going to float a theory that a big man in the sky made it happen, here is the test I will apply to your arguments. I will substitute the phrase "my hairdryer" for the phrase "the big man in the sky". If the evidence supports the fact that my hairdryer may have created the universe, I will listen. If it doesn't, you need to get over your fascination with the imaginary sky man.
I want to point out the "no intelligence allowed" tagline is extremely ironic.
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April 30th, 2008
08:57 pm - The price of milk, holy crap...
The price of milk keeps going up and up and up. It's crazy... it's just shy of $6 a gallon for "name brand".
The price of Guinness, however, remains stable.
You can probably see where I'm heading with this.
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October 8th, 2007
10:18 pm - Your Password Must Be at Least 18770 Characters
Heh.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q276304/
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September 28th, 2007
11:12 am - The Thief and the Cobbler, forty years in the unmaking
The Thief and the Cobbler is a feature-length animated film begun in 1964 by the Canadian master animator Richard Williams. You may know him as the animator of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and some of the later Pink Panther stuff. The Thief was conceived to be his magnum opus, and the standard against which all other animated features would be compared. It was of such quality and complexity that it was aimed more at adults than children. It was to be the greatest animation ever produced.
If ever a project was cursed, The Thief would be it. The film was originally intended to be called "Nasruddin!" about the humorous adventures of the middle-eastern "wise fool" Mulla Nasruddin, based upon books by Idres Shah, which Williams had illustrated. Unfortunately, a falling out in 1973 with the Shah family required the plot be abandoned. Rather than also abandon the work, Williams retained the animation that didn't contain the Mulla, and fashioned a new plot, which became the plot of The Thief and the Cobbler.
At various points, Williams had over 40 animators working on the project. Williams was a huge fan of Disney's early work, and often hired their older animators as a way of keeping their style alive. He worked with many of animations greats on The Thief. Over the years, there were many ups and downs, and he gained and lost funding multiple times. It seemed the project would never be finished.
In 1990 however, after his success on Roger Rabbit, Warner Brothers signed a contract to release The Thief. The Thief would finally see the light of day, in all it's epic greatness. It wasn't to be however. Warner gave Williams an overly ambitious deadline of 1991. When the deadline rolled around, there were 15 minutes of screentime left to be produced, requiring several more months of work. At the same time, Disney was preparing to release Aladdin, a work based partially on the plot and scenes Williams had created, except cuted-up quite a bit and simplified for a younger audience. Some at Warner doubted Williams would ever finish... he had worked on it for over 20 years now, after all.
With the pressure of a pop-culture oriented release impending from Disney, and a dubious delivery date, Warner cut the project. The assets were sold to a bond company, and Williams and his team were given just hours to clear out of the studio. It is said that when they came to lock the doors, Williams was still sitting, animating at his table. The company took possession of all the materials, including the work prints in William's vault. This was the beginning of the end of The Thief.
A Saturday-morning cartoons producer was brought in from LA to finish the film as quickly as possible and to give it more mainstream appeal. Much of Williams footage was cut, the materials were shipped to a studio in Korea for production, the quality of the film was degraded horribly, and the result more little resemblance to Williams original intent. It was released as "The Princess and the Cobbler". Disney subsidiary Mirimax then bought the rights and butchered it further, releasing it as "Arabian Knight". (this happens to be the version I first watched). At one point, DVD's of this version were given away on the side of Kellogg's cereal boxes.
...
Fast forward to 2006, and enter one Garrett Gilchrist. Garrett is a fan of both Williams and The Thief, and in 2006 he announced his intent to restore the film to its intended greatness. He has since been gathering materials from all over the world... pre-release cuts, pal and ntsc video, 35mm working prints, pencil sketches, you name it... and digitally restoring and editing together The Thief as Williams intended it. The restored version, called "The Thief and the Cobbler, ReCobbled", has so far gone through two releases, and a third is in the works.
I'm writing this post for all of you to spread the word about what I consider to be a masterpiece of animation, and to share with you the immense enjoyment I feel when watching the restored version.
This isn't a totally polished finished product. It's a work of love. At points, Garrett animates with the only thing he has to work from, Williams pencil sketches. During the film, you can see the quality switch from 35mm (almost HDTV quality) to TV cartoon quality, to hand drawn. But to me it creates a feeling of "history in motion", which just adds to the experience. I seriously look forward to the Mark III release.
Resources:
The ultimate thread on the subject, started by Garrett Gilchrist, the fellow undertaking the restoration... the most recent post was yesterday, so it's a live thread: http://ffrevolution.com/InvisionBoard/index.php?showtopic=1199&st=0
The Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thief_and_the_Cobbler
Torrent File, to download the Mark II release: http://www.mininova.org/tor/327018
You will have to burn the results to a dvd. I did and it only worked on my computer, but that's fine, my computer has better resolution than my TV. :)
Enjoy!
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September 27th, 2007
01:09 pm - Dear Embarq...
Dear Embarq,
I received your message that said "we are going to be changing your static IPs".
That is an oxymoron.
Thank you,
Vaughn
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September 20th, 2007
11:29 am - Mini Deva Mega Booty!
http://www.mini-britney.com/
Is that not awesome?
I know what you're thinking. Where's the myspace!? Do not fret:
http://www.myspace.com/minibritneyspears
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September 10th, 2007
08:09 am - I didn't watch
So I can't say if Britney bombed at the MTV Music Awards or not.
But I have to take issue with the Associated Press' report that names some of the things wrong with her performance:Out-of-synch lip-synching. Lethargic movements that seemed choreographed by a dance instructor for a nursing home. The paunch in place of Spears' once-taut belly.
Picture of said "paunch":
Dear people of the world... please send all women with a paunch like Britney's to see Vaughn Teegarden, of Vaughns Photo Art, for appropriate appreciation and photography. Thank you.
This world is nuts.
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August 12th, 2007
07:42 pm - Just down the street from my house...
JOHNSON CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT NEWS RELEASE
Prepared By: Inv. Don Shepard 475
Date: 08/10/07
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Subject: Death Investigation
Approved By: Lt. Rick Stevens
On Friday, 08-10-07, at approximately 7:00 p.m. Officers of the Johnson City Police Department responded to the Johnson Inn, 2700 W Market St. to investigate a death. Employees of Johnson Inn discovered the body in the room when they went in to clean. The identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. At this time no fowl play is expected.
Since there is no "fowl play" at the inn, I guess I'll have to supply it. Here is the trailer to "Poultygeist - Return of the Chicken Dead".
http://www.poultrygeistmovie.com/video/trailer/
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July 31st, 2007
10:40 pm - quote I liked...
"Every time I read a book, it's like the author stole a part of me that I thought only I knew. Someday I'm going to write a book and I'll do it to somebody else."
...from the movie "The Number 23".
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April 21st, 2007
09:57 am - cough?
A dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste
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April 8th, 2007
08:45 pm - Happy Eostre Day
Easter, named after Eostre, Germanic Goddess of the Dawn (and thus of Spring), was a time for fertility celebrations (thus the use of the egg and the fertile rabbit symbology). So I suggest you celebrate appropriately tonight, and honor the holiday's original intent. ;)
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09:31 am - Ford CEO prevents Bush from blowing himself up
"Credit Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally with saving the leader of the free world from self-immolation.
Mulally told journalists at the New York auto show that he intervened to prevent President Bush from plugging an electrical cord into the hydrogen tank of Ford's hydrogen-electric plug-in hybrid at the White House last week. Ford wanted to give the Commander-in-Chief an actual demonstration of the innovative vehicle, so the automaker arranged for an electrical outlet to be installed on the South Lawn and ran a charging cord to the hybrid. However, as Mulally followed Bush out to the car, he noticed someone had left the cord lying at the rear of the vehicle, near the fuel tank.
"I just thought, 'Oh my goodness!' So, I started walking faster, and the President walked faster and he got to the cord before I did. I violated all the protocols. I touched the President. I grabbed his arm and I moved him up to the front," Mulally said. "I wanted the president to make sure he plugged into the electricity, not into the hydrogen This is all off the record, right?""
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070407/AUTO01/704070338/1148
In other news, Ford engineered their hydrogen car so that you can plug an electrical cord into the wrong place and blow yourself up? Good design guys, I'm sure that will go well.
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April 5th, 2007
07:58 am - Happy Birthday to everyone
It's birthday month at my house... Storm, Lorelei, Melanie, and my Dad all have birthdays in April, follows by my brother in the first week of May. If I post less for a while, you'll know why.
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March 15th, 2007
02:31 pm - the speed limit pic, reborn again
Mel just sent me this link... my speed limit photoshop, turned into a De-motivational poster.
http://up.kupatrix.com/f/view/8/Motivational_Poster_Collection/The_Rules.jpg
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March 4th, 2007
08:01 pm - that didn't take long
I decided to sell my Canon 20d and didn't even get a chance to post it on LJ or Ebay before it sold. I mean, go me and yay and all that, but yeesh. :)
And no, I'm not quitting photography. I upgraded to a 5d. I actually did it a few weeks ago, but I wanted to wait a bit to announce it. For me, switching to a new camera is an initial thrill, followed by a short depression caused by not being able to produce effectively. Switching cameras means that you have to take a lot of the judgment and "feel" you have for your tools and toss it out the window. Suddenly you're several steps back. And while it's exciting to learn, it also bothers me losing some of the instinct I've built up. So, I wanted to wait for my equilibrium to adjust, so I could be properly excited when I told everybody.
And let me tell you, it rocks. :) It's the same layout as the 20d, but so different too. The shutter sound is more dampened, quiet and precise. The viewfinder is brighter. I have true spot metering! There are fifteen ISO choices instead of six. There are 50% more pixels, and less noise. It's more refined in general. But perhaps the biggest change is the full frame sensor. Removing the 1.6 crop factor associated with the 20d's smaller sensor makes all my lenses their true length. At 17mm, my 17-40 looks like a fisheye to me.
Anyway, it's good stuff. The lens length changes are taking some getting used to, and may require me to shift my lens mix around a bit, but I'm not complaining.
Here, have some wide angle goodness:
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