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1. Condolences to the organizers of Con No Bakka. Must think of something nice to do for them.
2. green_trilobite and I are planning to get a condo (warning: graphics-heavy) and have his mother move in with us, as it will probably be a better situation than the nursing home she's currently in. Basically the idea is to amalgamate from 2 households in somewhat blah digs to 1 household in really nice digs.
3. Peter Jackson & WETA are geek deities: Saw the original King Kong on the weekend (v. good), and the 2nd-disc documentary included a section on the research done by WETA into Willis O'Brien's effects techniques (which are understood in theory, but not well-documented at the time due to the secrecy in which Kong was filmed). They studied photos, the film itself, O'Brien's design drawings and patents, and a surviving armature for one of the Kong puppets now in the hnds of a private collector, and re-created about five-minutes of stop-motion animation using all period materials and techniques (they even went so far as to use rabbit fur from a 1930s coat, presumably because tanning techniques have changed over the years.) It was the coolest thing I've seen in a long time.
Also, I'm fascinated by the underlying theme of the original film: that Fay Wray is the most attractive and therefore the most dangerous woman in the universe (except I'd say it was a tie between her and
Anna May Wong, which led to me wishing there was a film with both of them in it, which led to me envisioning some Kim-Newman-AU in which there was a movie of Red Nails done in the 30s with the guy from Crash Corrigan as Conan, Wray as Valeria and Wong as whatshername the evil vampiric queen who has Valeria chained nude to a big altar in the last act, except that if such a film existed noone would be able to take thair eyes off it and they'd die of terminal sexual arousal like those guys in Brief Lives when Ishtar starts dancing at the local strip club.....
4. I tried taking advantage of my cubical-mate's absence today to have the radio (phone) on, but I switched it off after the third version of "Rockin' Around The Xmas Tree." Not however before a period of reflection upon the songs ("Jingle Bells," "Sleigh Ride," "Winter Wonderland") that don't actually mention xmas but which have been co-opted as holiday songs on the basis of (a) having a wintertime setting and (b)being old enough to invoke nostalgia. "Winter Wonderland" would probably do better as a Valentine's Day song, actually.
5. Now I feel a compulsion to bake things.
2. green_trilobite and I are planning to get a condo (warning: graphics-heavy) and have his mother move in with us, as it will probably be a better situation than the nursing home she's currently in. Basically the idea is to amalgamate from 2 households in somewhat blah digs to 1 household in really nice digs.
3. Peter Jackson & WETA are geek deities: Saw the original King Kong on the weekend (v. good), and the 2nd-disc documentary included a section on the research done by WETA into Willis O'Brien's effects techniques (which are understood in theory, but not well-documented at the time due to the secrecy in which Kong was filmed). They studied photos, the film itself, O'Brien's design drawings and patents, and a surviving armature for one of the Kong puppets now in the hnds of a private collector, and re-created about five-minutes of stop-motion animation using all period materials and techniques (they even went so far as to use rabbit fur from a 1930s coat, presumably because tanning techniques have changed over the years.) It was the coolest thing I've seen in a long time.
Also, I'm fascinated by the underlying theme of the original film: that Fay Wray is the most attractive and therefore the most dangerous woman in the universe (except I'd say it was a tie between her and
Anna May Wong, which led to me wishing there was a film with both of them in it, which led to me envisioning some Kim-Newman-AU in which there was a movie of Red Nails done in the 30s with the guy from Crash Corrigan as Conan, Wray as Valeria and Wong as whatshername the evil vampiric queen who has Valeria chained nude to a big altar in the last act, except that if such a film existed noone would be able to take thair eyes off it and they'd die of terminal sexual arousal like those guys in Brief Lives when Ishtar starts dancing at the local strip club.....
4. I tried taking advantage of my cubical-mate's absence today to have the radio (phone) on, but I switched it off after the third version of "Rockin' Around The Xmas Tree." Not however before a period of reflection upon the songs ("Jingle Bells," "Sleigh Ride," "Winter Wonderland") that don't actually mention xmas but which have been co-opted as holiday songs on the basis of (a) having a wintertime setting and (b)being old enough to invoke nostalgia. "Winter Wonderland" would probably do better as a Valentine's Day song, actually.
5. Now I feel a compulsion to bake things.
