17 Jan 2012

My new favorite boy's book: Do you know what I'm going to do Next Saturday?, by Helen Palmer, 1963. I like the hyperactivity and bravado - and the Marine Corps reference. (Note: There is an urban legend about a banned Dr. Seuss book - this ain't it.)

On Friday night Cari and I stopped at a local Starbucks for hot chocolate. I came across an article in the Washington Post about how youtube may be forecast to be the dominant new media provider. My video on the subject is here. Will youtube replace television in some way? I don't know or care, really. Although, there are times when I made a bowl of popcorn, sat at the computer and "channel surfed" youtube instead of watching a movie. When I did find interesting is that I could come across such an article, shoot a brief video with my cell phone about it on the spot, edit it quickly with free software when I got home and upload it onto my very own youtube channel for friends and family to look at. That's fun.

Is anyone "tuned in?" Does it matter? After all, it doesn't really affect my need to be creative. But, as it turns out, yes, somebody tuned in. Watching my "Mike are you there?" video, one person - a total stranger - commented "This is truly the greatest video ever. No joke." Wait... do you think maybe he's joking anyway?

Stranger: "This is truly the greatest video ever."
Kip: "As if anyone could know that, Napoleon."

Friday night my wife and I watched Onibaba, a 1964 Japanese arthouse drama/horror film. I gave it an 8/10, Cari gave it 2/10, later, 3/10. It's neat: It takes place during a civil war in medieval Japan. Wounded soldiers are ambushed and slaughtered by two desperate women living in tall grass, who strip them of armor which they resell for money and food; they toss the bodies into a deep hole. The horror elements occur when a male neighbor returns from the wars - there is sex, jealousy and resentment - and the sudden appearance of an unusual samurai wearing a demon mask, which is repurposed by one of the women. The black and white cinematography is excellent, and I especially like the confined, claustrophobic world of the tall grass the women live in. I am not a big fan of Japanese cinema, but this is one I like. A good short review is here.

I cannot say the same for Kaidan (2007 - not to be confused with the superior 1964 film of the same or nearly same name). It was overlong and kind of cheesy, I thought.

I've blogged before about J.W. Fawkes, olde-tymey Burbank inventor of the "Aerial Swallow," a prop-driven tram suspended by a cable. Turns out there was another later on, Maurice Poirier. He proposed an unnecessarily violent airplane, not to mention transmitting electrical power via radio. What was it about Burbank that fostered all this over the top creativity?

I finally got a listen to the Beatles' Let It Be... Naked, the collection of songs on the standard issue Let It Be album, but without the Phil Spector (over) production. The story is that in 1969 the Beatles gathered in a cold, drafty and inhospitable studio warehouse setting to record some songs. Squabbles and differences ensued, and the project was abandoned. "Wall of sound" producer (and, later, convicted murderer) Phil Spector was called in to create an album out of the various bits of tape, which he did in 1970. This was the standard Let It Be record. Paul decried the heavy-handed orchestrations, choirs and embellishments, and fans have ever since wondered what the production might have sounded like with a different producer. Paul spearheaded the "Naked" remix in 2003.

What a revelation! I never cared for this album much - it is, in fact, my least favorite Beatles album, but remixing and stripping the songs of their unneeded orchestra and choruses really improves them and makes them persuasive. John's Across the Universe and Paul's The Long and Winding Road and Let It Be are much improved. Good work!

On a personal note, we got a scare yesterday. My pregnant daughter-in-law was involved in a traffic accident when her SUV hit a jersey wall on a snowy/icy Utah road. She is okay, but sore. She went to see the doctor who said that all is well. Thank goodness! The SUV may or may not be totalled. My son hates that car, so maybe it's a blessing in disguise...

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