Some comments I shared with a friend on...

On Hero.
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1808404384

This is a martial arts film that won seven awards at the 22nd Annual Hong Kong Film Awards (2002). I'll probably go see it at least one more time just to take in the visuals.

VISUALS
To me the real award winner of this film is the shooting style, thanks to Cinematographer Chris Doyle. Awesome, fluid, lyrical, poetic. He's done things with filmic time--from staccato zoom and pan shots, to close-up work on objects moving, to capturing vibrant fabrics as they cascade downward or across the screen. Chris knows his stuff.

I checked out his bio. He started out as a Stuntman (1987), worked his way to a Stunt Coordinator (1993), and then made his break into Cinematographer some years ago. It make sense. He understands action and movement, be they a person or some inanimate material. He knows where to place the camera to capture these events. I'm a humbled man now.

STORY
The story isn't that complicated, but it does keep you guessing.

(Mini-spoiler material)
The story involves a fighter, Jet Li, who comes before the ruling Emperor, to account the story of how he came to possess the weapons from three renown fighters. Thus much of the story is told in flash-back. There is a twist however... I'll just say, be mindful of "the colors."

CHARACTERIZATION
I have to agree with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution critic: "Emotionally distanced, but still a beauty..." The characters gave great performances, but somehow I rarely felt "pulled in."

The characters accomplished their tasks of breathtaking martial arts, choreographed movements. There are tears, acts of passion and anger and revenge, but somehow I felt a tad disconnected with what they felt. Maybe as an American I expected a "Western-styled" feel to the emotional outlet. Maybe Far-Eastern eyes discern a different matrix of emotions conveyed through: color palette; subtleties in body shifts, stance, and placement; eye movements; use of costuming with various designs that signify an almost Japanese Noh play look.

Was able to get up early (4am) today and check out the Perseid meteor shower. ...Of course I missed the peak period that was earlier in the evening, but I did see several meteors in a relatively short amount of time. I wonder if after the peak period, someone might coin the phrase, "meteor drip"? You heard it here first, folks!

Also found out one of the new guys at work is an avid amateur astronomer. He shares there's a place near here called Blue Canyon, where the night time skies are perfect for star parties. /BB

Been awhile since I posted something here. Stand-by Houston....

Was able to make it over to Alternative Press Expo 2004, in San Francisco, on Saturday. Very…Alternative, eclectic, and … (can’t think of a word that conveys a spirit of creativity/passion/strangeness/street-level honesty/realness…and beauty).

From the two Comic-Cons (2001 & 2003) and this Alternative Press Expo (2004) I’ve attended, my favorite thus far is yesterday’s Expo. Why? Mainly it’s the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) factor. I was able to converse with the likes of Jane Irwin (Vöglein), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder series), Tom Beland (True Story Swear to God), and Lea Hernandez (Cathedral Child, Clockwork Angels, et al). These greats in the self-publishing / Alt-Press biz actually had time to chat, joke around, and allow me to get a sense of genuine, artistic enthusiasm each of them possess.

Jane is a true jewel of a person. She loves books!! She reminds me of someone else I’ve met back at Comic Con 2003…one who has the same honest eye contact that can seemingly discern the true meaning of things. Colleen is that sort of a person. They both have “the artist’s eye.” Carla was very friendly too and I wish I could have spent more time talking with Tom Beland. Lea Hernandez made me laugh. We talked about Texas, New Orleans, and my home state of Florida. Sigh. I think I need to whip up a batch of Jambalaya.

I was also able to listen in on the panel discussion, Self Publishing 101. Mark Thompson, Jane Irwin, Rick Spears, Justin Hall, and Harris O’Malley shared their views and opinions about “how they did it.” Tremendous. Informative.

Although I still consider myself a “newbie” to all these comic going-on’s, the thing that most pleases me is the growing reinforcement that there are more artists in our world than are realized, even to some who do not consider they have a creative voice or bone in their body. If people can just get it out of their heads the word “Can’t” and focus on the word “Do,” I think an artistic renaissance is just waiting to happen.

I found out a very dear friend, Carlos, passed-away on Wednesday. I will miss you my dear friend. May your humor and love of life, live on in others. God Bless.

Exclusive Preview: Ghost in the Shell Sequel and Series Arrive

An article on IGN.com FILMFORCE: A nice heads up on a Ghost in the Shell TV show coming out on DVD and a following Ghost movie sequel. The downloadable (58 MB) QuickTime trailer looks awesome!


http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/492/492420p1.html?fromint=1

UFO Research Tools and Information. Gett'em while they're caliente!

This is a beautiful site on Snow Flakes.

Surf's up on the shores of Cyberia...and here's a tremendous interview with James Cameron.

Check it out on Guardian Limited: James Cameron

Another trip around the sun, wooo boy! Happy 2004, folks!!

Interesting website called the Dragon Page.
It's a web based radio talk show for "Literary Concepts in Fantasy and Sci-Fi."

Lots to check out...

/BB

Merry Christmas!!

Good gosh where has the time gone? Going to Return of the King, tomorrow with friends. I'll try to post some updates as what's been going on--maybe in a day or three.

Earworms! Fun & Games

This looks interesting...
CNN.com - 'Survival' author: Taking responsibility is key - Oct. 28, 2003

Here's some cool science...

Researchers: Monkeys use mind to move objects

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/10/13/monkey.brains.reut/index.html

--Bennie

International Talk like a Pirate Day - Sept. 19th.
http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

Very productive weekend. Completed my drawing table project. Looks beautiful!

Just came across news of an MP3-like, music format that's open source called, Ogg Vorbis. Site: http://www.vorbis.com/index.psp

Cool thing is it's totally free, open source, and the format is recognized on various computer operating systems, the likes of Unix/Linux, Windows, Macintosh, BeOS, and PS2.

Other neat thing is a site called the Kahvi Collective. Site: http://www.kahvi.org/index.html Their mission: "to gather and provide free electronic grooves area of operation: Internet."

I just downloaded a few of their songs and the sound quality is like nothing I've ever heard. (I use Winamp for my mp3 music player. Winamp also recognizes the Ogg Vorbis format, extension ogg.) The two I did listen to seem more in the vein of Finish/Norweigian ambient music, but I'll explore around some more.

Very Euro. I like.

Looks like the popular "blackout" photo of the NE US was a fake, according to an article on Space Weather.com. Here's the brief:
"BLACKOUT? NOT: The now-famous blackout of August 14th really happened, but this is not a picture of it. It's a fake. The image, widely circulated around the Internet, claims to show city lights across the USA and Canada after nightfall on August 14th. The continent appears brightly lit except for a deep black area in the northeast. How do we know it's fake? There are many reasons, mainly genuine images of the blackout reveal that not all cities in the affected area were dark. The blackout simply wasn't as black as this image suggests. Incidentally, there is no such thing as satellite ISAT Geostar 45--the purported source of the photo."

Here's a link to the REAL picture...http://science.nasa.gov/spaceweather/swpod2003/18aug03a/dmsp.gif

/BB

Back into calisthenics mode. Summer break is over. I’ve shared with the ADS gang I’ll put up a web site soon to display some of my drawings, etc. What-a-meza-saying?