Things I finished

Main Street

2011-12-26T23:20:00.001-05:00

After reading Babbitt, I decided I should probably also read Main Street, since it was Lewis's first successful novel, and also his most successful novel. It is much longer than Babbitt, and while it grabbed me at first, it started to lose me as it went on. It is basically a story of a smart, independent woman who finds herself smothered by the fearful, petty nature of small town life. I've always had a hard time with gossip and small talk of all kinds, and so I was able to relate to it easily. I remarked to my mother that I was going to read Main Street, and she said, "Oh dear... it's so depressing." And indeed, I found that to be the case. Carol, the protagonist, is thwarted at every conceivable turn in her attempts to find some way to elevate the citizens of Gopher Prairie. What really makes this a great novel, I think, is that it is obvious that on some level, Carol is right that the townspeople are petty, stupid, and hypocritical, but at the same time, she is both arrogant and naive. Her desire to connect to the world of ideas makes her unable to successfully connect with people. While I liked the book, it does have a dark quality, and it goes on for so long, that my candle of hope burned out. But it did leave me with a number of memorable images -- the descriptions of the party games that Carol constructs, and how they play out are a wonderful commentary on the human condition, and "Main Street talk" as a term referring to banal neighborhood small talk has become a permanent part of my vocabulary. I also remain fascinated that what makes this novel great is that it doesn't take sides -- it paints everyone's foolishness equally. It's also a rare thing -- a novel by a man that has a female protagonist that seems somewhat credible... at least to me. I'd love to hear the point of view on this from any women who've read the book.

The Royal Tenenbaums

2011-10-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

I find that nowadays, whenever I ask people about whether they've read J.D. Salinger's books that aren't Catcher in the Rye, that is, Franny and Zooey, Seymour: an Introduction, etc., I find they haven't, which is understandable. And when I try to explain that all the other books are about an unstable family of genius kids (the Glass children) who grow up in a NYC apartment with their mother and have problems dealing with reality as adults, people say, "Oh... like The Royal Tenenbaums." So, I figured I should see it. And, yeah, wow, it's sort of like this movie is a kind of valentine to Salinger's books. When Beatrice Glass gets married, her new last name is Tannenbaum, even.

I found I had mixed feelings about the film. Visually and stylistically, it is stunning. Fantastic costumes and sets and cinematography, and some very good performances. I was fascinated that while it is set in the year 2000, the filmmakers are very careful never to show any technology from after 1979. No celphones, no flat screen tvs, pay phones cost a quarter, and you DIAL them. There's even a Hotpoint refrigerator that must be from 1961. But the story didn't really gel for me. There wasn't much in the way of character transformation -- just small conflicts and somewhat obvious resolutions in a world of eccentric characters. I wanted to like it more than I did -- I wanted it to mean more.

I wonder what it is about the Glass children that keeps lingering? Clearly, there is something important there... I'm just not sure what it is.

Hamlet 2

2011-10-02T16:36:00.000-04:00

It's funny -- just the other day I was thinking that it would be funny to make a sequel to Hamlet. And here this movie pops up on TV. I didn't think I'd heard of it before, but who knows? Anyway, we really enjoyed it. The saving grace was the main character, a washed up actor turned drama teacher -- he's an idiot, but he has genuinely redeeming qualities. Acting that part was surely a delicate balance, and Steve Coogan really mastered it. Without that, the whole thing would have fallen flat. Elizabeth Shue as Elizabeth Shue was also a really great touch. The whole movie, like Be Kind Rewind, is a meditation on the idea that passion is more important than talent... and it ends up being weirdly inspirational.

Dames

2011-08-25T08:43:00.000-04:00

Whoa! It's almost the same cast as Footlight Parade, my favorite movie! No Cagney though, and a considerably goofier movie. I mean, sure, I have a movie crush on Ruby Keeler, but even I think this goes a little far.

Winnie the Pooh

2011-08-21T14:55:00.000-04:00

Oh my God! They didn't mess this up! The new Winnie the Pooh movie (real live cinematic release) is quite charming, clever, and fun, and does a good job of capturing the spirit of the original books. The scene were they are trapped in the pit is masterful, and it is great fun to visit all the characters again, who are each the way they have always been, most importantly, Eeyore. (Spoiler alert) Upon the re-installation of Eeyore's missing tail:
PIGLET: So, are you happy Eeyore?
EEYORE: No. But I sure do like this new tail.
There is a peculiar short at the start of the film which is a weird poem about the Loch Ness Monster. It was kind of derogatory to the Scots, and frankly, I could have done without it. But the movie itself was delightful. I'm sure that Randy would have enjoyed it. Knowing him, he most likely had some hand in it. My daughter had to ask, "So... was that a new or old movie?" which I think is compliment enough.

Little Lulu: The Big Dipper Club and Other Stories

2011-08-21T14:08:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I'm on a Little Lulu kick. Another Full Color volume! I have to make an observation here: Cartman on South Park IS Tubby. They are both articulate fat kids, spoiled by their moms, are always up to trickery and evil, are always shrieking at people who disrespect them, and are always talking to themselves about their evil plans. They both have elaborate fantasy lives, and they both always wear a hat. Trey Parker and Matt Stone were born in 1969 and 1971 respectively, so it is entirely possible that they grew up reading Little Lulu comics off the newsstands just like I did. Someone should ask them about this...

Little Lulu: The Bawlplayers and Other Stories

2011-08-21T14:00:00.000-04:00

Yes! Full Color! This is more like it! I continue to be fascinated with Little Lulu stories. They have multiple levels to them -- they aren't really children's stories, in most cases. I keep wondering if Charles Schultz was influenced by the Little Lulu universe at all -- the kids are so emotional, so philosophical, and act so much like adults. I guess the way to put it is that there is a real moral ambiguity in these stories -- children are continually doing evil, and getting away with it. Punchlines are, more often than not, about lack of comeuppance, not about actual comeuppance. Joe Wos says he'll ask Jeannie Schultz if her husband ever mentioned Little Lulu. I wonder what she'll say?

Little Lulu: Late for School

2011-08-21T13:51:00.001-04:00

I was a huge fan of Little Lulu comics when I was a kid, and the quality of these comics was one of the few things my parents agreed about. I was excited to find that there are reprints. Though -- this volume is without color, which somehow saps the power of the comics... I'm not sure why. I picked this one because it had a story in it that changed my life! Lulu's story of the Giant Snowman, which she tells to Alvin, of course. Her ability to just make up a story on the spot, especially one that was so creative and engaging fascinated me. I found myself telling the snowman story to my friends, just as Lulu did, as if I had made it up, and I was fascinated with how engaging they found it. It made me believe that I could tell a story that people would care about... even if it wasn't my own.

Computers: An Illustrated History

2011-08-14T12:01:00.000-04:00

This book, by Christian Wurster, is an excellent history of the major developments in computing hardware from the 40's to 2002, when this book was published. It is a mixture of straightforward reporting on the facts, combined with reminiscences from people who were there, and fascinating photographs of hardware, interfaces, and people making use of them. It is rare to find a book that so clearly lays out the history so that you can see how dramatically things have continuously changed for the last 70 years. There is something in us that wants to master a technology, and see it stay, and so we act as if it will stay. I can still remember, vividly, the intensity with which I tried to master coding the PDP-11 back in 1985, building castles of code, as if it would always be there, forever and ever. And of course, a year later, I was doing the same thing with VAX/VMS. And now, we're all acting like iOS is some kind of permanent entity. I'm definitely keeping this book, as a handy reference to talk to students about how things used to be. It's weird to see it, and not see any smartphones and tablets -- the only touchscreen in the whole book is the HP 150 from 1983 -- and its only good app was checkers. I remember seeing that back then when I got to take a tour of the HP plant, and thinking "that is not going to catch on." It finally did, it just took about 25 years.

Sheesh! I wonder what is next?

Lord Valentine's Castle

2011-08-13T12:51:00.000-04:00

I started reading this book in 1988, and just finished it now. It's a fantasy novel featuring a troupe of jugglers. There is lots of detailed talk about juggling patterns and what it feels like to perform, etc., which is novel and interesting, especially if you are a juggling nerd like me. Majipoor makes a pretty interesting story world (a hundred billion people, multiple alien races, etc.), and there are some cool events... but instead of building to some great climactic ending, the novel kind of peaks in the middle, and then gradually runs downhill. I know there are more books in the series, but I doubt I'll read them. If I understand right, the Flying K's helped consult on some of the juggling stuff, and it shows -- some of their juggling philosophy is in there. My two favorite parts of this book are that it does a good job of explaining what skilled juggling feels like, and also this picture of the author on the back cover.

Eye and Brain

2011-08-07T23:53:00.000-04:00

I read this when I was preparing my Seeing talk last year. It's a really fun way to learn more about the eye, how it evolved, how it works, etc. And it comes with 3D glasses. Eyes are cool.

Skim

2011-08-07T13:30:00.000-04:00

It was a beautiful and sad story of high school angst -- though, honestly, after I read it, I remembered almost nothing.

The Boy Who Bit Picasso

2011-08-07T13:11:00.000-04:00

I found this at the Baltic art museum in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is a fantastic children's book, in which Anthony Penrose tells stories from his childhood about visits with Picasso. The best part is that his mother was a photographer, and so the book is full of photos from these visits. The title story in the book goes this way:

I don't remember this, but Mum told everyone that one day, when we were playing, I got over-excited and I naughtily bit Picasso. Picasso turned around and bit me right back -- hard! Just before I started to yell, Mum heard Picasso say, in French, 'Gosh! That's the first Englishman I've ever bitten!'

It is a wonderful book, with wonderful photos and stories.

Doctor Who #3: The Edge of Destruction

2011-08-06T18:03:00.000-04:00

Oh man. Even though this is only a two-episode story, it's crazy fun. The whole thing takes place on the TARDIS -- apparently because there were production delays for sets and costumes with story #4, Marco Polo! But that's cool, because this story is awesome. Obviously I'm going to give spoilers -- if that's a problem, get out now! So... leaving Skaro (in a hurry) there is suddenly an explosion on board the TARDIS, and everyone is knocked out. Everyone seems to be suffering some kind of space madness featuring amnesia and moodiness. On top of that, the TARDIS is behaving very strangely. It just shows a series of pictures on the scanner screen, outside the doors is pure whiteness, and it shocks people who touch certain parts of the console. And, oh yeah, all the clocks have melted. After two episodes of this incredible weirdness (the second episode is called The Brink of Disaster -- hee) -- they figure it out. In their hurry to leave Skaro, the Doctor hit the "fast return" switch (You know it is the fast return switch, because someone wrote "fast return" with a black marker next to it), which is kind of like the "last channel" button on your TV remote. It is supposed to take you back to where you just were. (Side note: Really? Is this a for-real button on the TARDIS? Because it would have been incredibly useful in, oh, I don't know ALMOST EVERY EPISODE OF THE SHOW!) Anyway, it turns out that it got stuck down -- physically stuck down, when the Doctor pushed it... and so... it appears that it whizzed the TARDIS back in time, past 100,000 BC Earth, and all the way to the Big Bang... the start of the Universe, before there was time, and thus, the melting clocks. The Doctor doesn't say this, per se... he rambles a bit about how exciting it is to be there for the birth of a star... but, uh, the story is way better if it's the big bang, so, I'm going with that.

There is a ton of stuff that makes no sense in this episode... Susan has a psycho moment, and appears to lose control of herself, fighting urges to stab Ian with scissors; the Doctor drugs everyone for no reason, and later everyone is amused by that; every though time has stopped, time on the TARDIS is still going, and if they don't do something soon the TARDIS will be destroyed, etc. But... it was a super fun episode. We got to learn more about the characters, and we learn the most about the TARDIS. Apparently, it can think for itself, "machine thoughts" as the Doctor explains... but it just can't communicate very well. It clearly has a kind of safety system it will use to protect itself and it's inhabitants... this is definitely the first time the TARDIS is shown to have intelligence, something that is revisted many times in future episodes.

Quotes and Notes:

Barbara is still wearing Thal pants!
Ian listens to the Doctor's heartbeat... but doesn't notice his second heart. Heh -- maybe one of them stopped!
"I can't take you back Susan... I can't!"
The food machine doesn't work at the beginning of time... for some reason...
Susan uses special ointment from the TARDIS first aid kit -- when the wound is healed, it turns white.
Susan has a bed? Turns out Susan and Barbara are roommates.
Susan's psycho scene was totally horrifying.
"I must check the coordinates." <-- Why are the coordinates so far from the console?
"I recognize that... That's where we nearly lost the TARDIS, four or five journeys back." "Yes, the planet Quinnis, of the fourth universe." <-- do they mean Galaxy 4?
"Did I ever tell you that the ship has a memory bank, hmm?"
It would appear William Hartnell forgot some lines for the melting clock scene... rendering it somewhat unintelligible.
"One man's law is another man's crime."
The ending of episode 1 was awesome.
The danger signal? I guess this is the cloister bell?
"We had time taken away from us, but now it's given back to us, because it's running out!"
Interesting fact: The height of the column rise on the console tells how much power the TARDIS is using.
"You know, I acquired that ulster from Gilbert and Sullivan." "Really? I thought it was made for two." :)

These old episodes are totally fun.

Horrifically Bad Album Covers

2011-08-06T16:42:00.000-04:00

This book is definitely fun -- though a lot of covers aren't as horrifically bad as I would have expected. But... some are positively insane.

Doctor Who #2: The Daleks

2011-07-16T18:16:00.000-04:00

The Daleks are the best known enemy on the show, and it is quite interesting that they were defined so early in the show -- the second story! I have heard many recaps and explanations of the origin of the Daleks -- but it was meaningful to see it actually take place. This is a seven episode story, so kind of long. My main reaction to this whole thing was an unexpected one -- pity for the Daleks. They are horribly mutated from their nuclear war with the Thals, and have survived by building prosthetics for themselves, and a city that is totally wheelchair accessible. To power their, uh, wheelchairs? the city has metal floors everywhere that they draw power from. So... everyone jokes that the Daleks can't deal with stairs, but that is not an oversight. They are well aware that they cannot leave the artificial world of ramps and elevators they have created. So... I know I'm supposed to hate them, but they are kind of underdogs, compared to the Thals, who somehow got through a nuclear war coming out six feet tall and blonde. Weirdly, the Daleks (formerly Dals) were once a nation of poets and philosophers, but war with the Thals somehow changed that. And if the Daleks, hovering on the edge of survival, didn't have it bad enough, the Doctor and his friends show up, and mercilessly murder them all.

No wonder the Daleks are so pissed all the time.

Quotes and Notes:

Timelords eat.
The TARDIS has a machine that makes food and water when the Doctor enters certain codes. The food is some kind of futuristic candy bar that can taste like anything.
The Doctor sabotages the TARDIS, endangering everyone.
"We need drugs." Really? Anti-radiation drugs are all you need to deal with severe radiation?
Barbara falls for one of the Thals. It is peculiar how quickly she and Ian have adapted to this strange situation, and how little they seem interested in going home.
There are "21 different holes" in the Tardis lock -- use the wrong one, and the lock fuses shut.
Dilating Dalek eyes are cool.
Radiation makes the Daleks stronger... they are just figuring this out now?
Why is the Dalek city so complicated?
"This is no time for morals."
There are glowing lakes full of mutated creatures behind the Dalek city. Cool.
That whirlpool was f'ing huge.
Barbara does not have appropriate footwear for a death swamp.
The Doctor's binocular glasses are the coolest.
Barbara's bad knot tying skills almost kill her bf.
The doctor discovers the Dalek city is powered by "Single Cable Static Electricity" and he plans to short out the city using the TARDIS key as a conductor. "I could always make another one."
The Thals are terrible rock climbers.
"No doubt you have other wars to fight."
"I was once [a pioneer] among my own people."
"Always search for truth. Mine is in the stars."
"Maybe I'll visit your grandchildren."

I'm so glad I'm watching these early episodes -- they put a new light on everything.

Doctor Who #1: An Unearthly Child

2011-07-16T12:01:00.002-04:00

My recent trip to the UK, and to Forbidden Planet, gave me new resolve. I'm tired of only sort-of grasping what is going on in Doctor Who. This has frustrated me since about 1977. Enough. I am going to watch every episode of Doctor Who, starting at #1, and continuing until I catch up. I know what you are going to say, though. You're going to say... "But.. a lot of the early episodes are missing... you won't be able to do it." Screw that. Yes, the BBC inexplicably has lost videotapes of 108 of the 777 episodes. But, fortunately, they have the audio recordings of every single episode, and have been kind enough to have created radio dramas out of them by adding narration to cover the visuals (and they're good, too). Combine that with photographs that exist of the missing episodes, and it's good enough for me -- it's certainly enough that I can follow the story. Because that is what is amazing about Doctor Who. It is one continuous story thread that has been told over nearly fifty years, and could easily go another fifty. It builds on itself in a significant way, making it necessary to go back to the beginning to fully understand it.

It is also well known that I have a time travel obsession and this is definitely part of that. Whatever.

These things are going to have spoilers... but seriously, 48 years is past the statute of limitations.

Okay, so -- Story #1: An Unearthly Child.

The DVD is kind enough to include the pilot of the first episode of this four part story. To be clear, the first episode was filmed twice... Once as a pilot, and then a second time when they filmed the rest of the story. What is startling are the differences between the pilot and the "real" first episode. In the pilot, the Doctor is an incredibly mean cuss. Very rude, constantly shouting in anger -- he seems like a truly dangerous character, with really nothing likable about him. In the re-filming, his character has softened... whereas before he was intensely angry all the time, afterwards he fluctuates between a softer anger, and by being distracted by his scientific curiosity. This makes him just as rude, but not as threatening... more eccentric, less psychotic. Curiously, this bears a striking parallel to the pilot of Phineas and Ferb -- in that, Phineas is a very snarky little boy -- in all future episodes, Phineas is much more likable and thoughtful. It's as if, in both cases, the writers were concerned there wouldn't be enough conflict in the show, and so they made their protagonists want to fight the world (if the Doctor and Phineas actually are protagonists, which is not completely clear) but then they realized that this was unnecessary, and only makes them unlikable.

What is amazing is how much of the entire series is set forth in this episode -- the Police Box, the nature of the TARDIS, the broken chameleon circuit, and even the fact that the Doctor and Susan are exiles, unable to return home, though they hope to, one day. One certainly wonders who Susan is... The Doctor really has a granddaughter? This implies a lot.

Another difference between the pilot and episode 1: In the pilot, the St. John Ambulance cross is clearly visible on the door of the TARDIS. But in the re-filmed episode, it is not clearly visible: it appears to have been painted over. Interestingly, the cross seems to come and go in future episodes.

Anyway, story summary: Susan has been attending a local school, her teachers, Ian and Barbara find her an eccentric genius, but are concerned about her sporadic performance in school, so they try to meet her at home, which is a junkyard, where the meet the Doctor, and after a confrontation, the four of them enter the TARDIS, and continuing their dispute, the Doctor takes them back in time to prove he's not a liar, and they end up at approximately 100,000 BC, somewhere on earth... (somewhere that has British cavemen). They get enmeshed in a violent tribal dispute centered around the ability to make fire. Through clever tricks they eventually help the tribe and escape to the TARDIS, which takes off, and lands on what seems to be an alien planet.

Some weird things happen in the story... it would appear, at one point, that the Doctor plans to murder an injured caveman, to keep the companions from spending time helping him! Overall, though, this story really did set the template for everything that was to come... "Where are we? I want to investigate! Something's gone horribly wrong! A local dispute! We're trapped! Let's escape! We have to go back! We're recaptured! We solved a problem through our cleverness! We made it out just in time!" There's no running through corridors, but there is a lot of running through a dark forest, which is close enough.

Quotes and Notes:

"I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."
"One day, we shall get back... one day... one day..."
"Your arrogance is nearly as great as your ignorance."
Susan's last name is Foreman...?
Ian examines the door of the TARDIS: "There must be a secret lock somewhere..." when the lock is in plain view!
Susan was born in the 49th century.
"Still a police box - Why hasn't it changed?"
The TARDIS has a (broken) "yearometer"
There is a radiation meter, as well, and the Doctor has a (short-lived) portable Geiger counter.
The Doctor carries a notebook, where he writes down the coordinates of everywhere they have been, among other things.
The TARDIS has some kind of atmospheric analyzer.
"Make fire or I kill you now."

When I saw my first William Hartnell episodes, back in the 80's, I was so disappointed... the visual quality and sound quality of the episodes was so bad, I could barely follow what was going on, and further, I came in in the middle of things, not knowing who anyone was. The DVD versions are dramatically improved through digital restoration, and it's very exciting to start at the beginning, and be able to follow a fifty year story thread! It's kind of crummy that episodes are missing... but... I must admit that the scavenger hunt nature of the whole experience (Stories 1-3 are sold in a box set, Story 4 is on a hard to get CD collection, 5 and 6 are sold separately, 7-9 haven't been released, but are on the youtubes, etc...) enhances things... it almost feels like I'm going on the same imperfect, ramshackle, gappy time-travel experiences as the Doctor! So... if I can keep up my rate of two stories a week, I'll be caught up in about two years... for I show I've been watching for thirty years, that's not too bad.

Asterios Polyp

2011-07-02T08:46:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to write about this for a while. I think this first graphic novel by David Mazzucchelli is perhaps the best example of the power of the medium of the graphic novel that I've ever seen. It has important things to say, that couldn't be told the same way with any other medium. Even though I read it months ago, moments from it still pop up in my mind - partly because I'm going on some of the same journeys of self-realization as Asterios. And the ending, well, seals the deal. I hope to see more independent work from Mazzucchelli. Even though this is a novel targeted at an older audience, I really hope that up and coming art students are reading this. There is so much to learn from this book about how aesthetics can be used to define characters.

Our Tragic Universe

2011-07-02T07:30:00.000-04:00

I haven't made a post for a while. Not because I haven't been finishing things (I have a big stack here of things that I hope to write about sometime) but because I haven't felt like it. It takes a kind of mental energy to do this kind of simple reflection that I don't always have available. But, this book, by Scarlett Thomas, broke that dam for me. Not only for this blog, but with some of my other writing projects, as well. Maybe because partly it is a book about writer's block. I'm not sure. I do know that this book spoke to me, though, in a deep, fundamental way.

One one level, it is a story about a writer, and her writer friends, and their broken relationships. Not crazy-dramatic broken relationships, crashing like sports cars into glass skyscrapers, but everyday broken relationships, rusting like broken down cars on the front lawn. But, these writers talk.... a lot. And they spend a lot of time philosophizing about the true nature of story, and the true nature of life and the universe, and how these might or might not be connected -- and I found that quite delightful. The story gets quite meta (you find yourself reading a book about a writer who is having trouble writing a book about a writer who is having writing a book), and then of course, since the book is a debate about the structural relationship between life and stories, and of course you know perfectly well that the lives of the people you are reading about are actually stories, from a book with blurbs on the cover, it gives Thomas the ability to play games with the reader that most books could not play, as she stretches reality to its breaking points. In some sense, this is not a novel at all, but really a philosophical discussion disguised as a novel... and of course, the characters comment on that, as well.

Reading it made me feel super smart, because it touches on so many interesting philosophical concepts that were new to me, and now I can name-drop ideas from Aristophanes, Baurdrillard, Tolstoy, Chekov, and Tipler, and sound like I know what I'm talking about. By a weird coincidence, I was in the UK most of the time I was reading it, and it takes place there.

I devoured the book -- mostly reading it on a couple of long plane rides. And that is unusual for me... I typically get a kind of reading fatigue, where I need to take breaks between chapters. The clear, simple imagery of this book, and the sparkling ideas made it hard for me to put down. I *had* to know how it was going to end... not so much that I cared about the character relationships, but I knew the ending, in itself, would be a philosophical statement about the nature of story, and of the universe. I hoped beyond hope for a clever rabbit to be pulled out of a hat at the end. I did not get that rabbit, and was at first, disappointed. Instead I got something more like a stone dropped into a pond... and the magic part is that somehow, that seemed like a magic trick in itself. The magic of making the ordinary seem like magic is a new idea for me -- and I find its ripples reverberating with me yet.

Without a doubt, Scarlett Thomas just got added to my fantasy dinner guest list!

The Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes

2011-04-14T21:21:00.000-04:00

I received this book, which is neither little nor brown, as a present for my 16th birthday, and have been nibbling at it for 24 years. It consists of several thousand humorous anecdotes, collected by none other than Clifton Fadiman. Finally, I made it to the "Z" entries, where it ends precipitously with a zinger by King Zog about heavy suitcases. I don't want to spoil the ending for you. There are tons of great stories in here, and all so short. It makes such great bedtime reading. I don't know what I'll do, now that I've finished it! My nightstand bookshelf looks like it is missing a tooth.

Vizability

2011-04-14T11:07:00.000-04:00

When the ETC moved to the PTC offices in early 2004, and I moved into room 5317, I found this abandoned "creativity toolkit." I've had it sitting around the last seven years, and I thought I'd finally get around to checking it out. It was first published in 1995, and enjoyed critical acclaim. It has three elements. First, a handbook, which explains six facets of visual thinking: environment, culture, seeing, drawing, diagramming, and imagining. This is a pleasing, elegant volume that I found very inspiring in terms of thinking visually, and communicating visually. Most interesting to me was that game designer Scott Kim contributed to the "diagramming" section. The second element, is a blank, bound book for sketching in, since the handbook and the third element suggests many sketching exercises. The third element is a CD-ROM that has a number of visual exercises. Unfortunately, it is Mac only, and what with Macs being evil and all, the software is completely unrunnable on modern Mac computers. "Sorry, classic mode is no longer supported."

I plan to keep this thing in our archive since periodically we run into people who want to do interactive projects that foster creativity. This is certainly a studied one of those. Kristina Woolsey did a lot of work pulling it together, basing a lot of it in McKim's "Exercises in Visual Thinking."

Anyway, I'm glad I finally know what this really is!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

2011-04-11T00:11:00.000-04:00

I continue to be fascinated by this series. The second movie manages to do a good job of staying true to the storyline of the second book, but it accomplished the same shocking feat the first movie pulled off: redeeming the main character, who is surprisingly awful, considering it is a book for kids. This one actually pulls a double, because it redeems two irredeemable characters.

This series has captured something that is in the air right now -- I think that is why it is so successful. There is an ignorant selfishness that has become the norm for so many kids... It was the main theme in the tv show Dead Like Me, and seems to be a primary driver of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (still reading that). What I don't get is where this attitude comes from... is it from being spoiled? From being too cut off from nature? From being treated as children too long? I don't know, but it makes me sad. The movie isn't sad, though -- it's fun. The magic act at the end was my favorite part, by far.

Viva Maria!

2011-04-09T11:41:00.000-04:00

HOW did I miss this movie all these years! Two strippers in a vaudeville act who take over Mexico, and one of them is Brigitte Bardot? This movie was way ahead of its time -- a lot of the gags and pacing anticipate the ZAZ movies of the seventies and eighties. They MUST have seen this movie when they were young. It has some amazing moments, and, well, it has Brigitte Bardot starring as a stripper / munitions expert. How has this not been remade?

Amnesia Moon

2011-04-09T11:34:00.000-04:00

I had never read a Johnathan Lethem book before -- I picked up this signed copy at Caliban Books. I've heard people compare him to Phillip K. Dick -- and if this book is any example, it's definitely a fair comparison. I always found when I read PKD novels that there was always one character who in my mind, was PKD -- I would see his face on that character. I was quite surprised to see PKD's face show up in my mind as the protagonist of this book! I would have liked a more satisfying ending, but I was really impressed with the strange reality that this book created. Somehow -- I've been drawn to books about dreams lately -- I looked at my nightstand the other day, and it had this, Freud's Interpretations of Dreams, and Lord Valentine's Castle. I guess it makes sense that dream books would wend their way to the nightstand. Maybe because I've been so active with @jessedreams? Hard to say. Dreams are mysterious like that.

One Hundred Demons

2011-03-20T15:50:00.000-04:00

I am a huge fan of Lynda Barry's What It Is, and I found this very pleasing as well. It's her usual collection of "crummy things that happened when I was a kid," which she always manages to tell so poignantly. She does such a wonderful job of merging together all the things she is good at -- drawing, painting, storytelling, and inspiring, that it makes me a bit jealous. And her handwriting is magical. Sometimes, I think, like Leo Lionni's Frederick the Mouse, I'm saving up my stories until they are ready.

Tales from the Tao

2011-03-20T11:24:00.000-04:00

I always like reading Taoist stories, and this is a book of forty of them, interspersed with poems and wise sayings, and some gorgeous black and white photography, done with a mix of black and silver inks. There were many stories in here I had not read before. The one thing that taints the book a little is that the editor/author Solala Towler mixes in his own stories side by side with stories from Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, Lieh Tzu, Ch'en Hsuan-Yu, and other ancient writers, which suggests a lack of humility that feels somewhat disharmonious with the spirit of the book. But perhaps I'm just being snobbish. I found the book pleasing and delightful to read -- and another reminder that form and content are equally important in creating experience.

Shades of Grey

2011-03-19T22:29:00.000-04:00

I always liked strange stories... and this is definitely one of those. I'm not sure why I find the books I like best in airports, but somehow I do. I was a bit early in the Orlando airport on my way to GDC (why is a long story) and I could tell there was something different about this book. It is the most unusual post-apocalyptic story I've ever read: a satire of British society, it is set in a world where individuals can only see one color, at levels of intensity that differ from person to person. The entire class structure is based on this "chromaticity", with people of different color sensitivity having different roles and status. An absurdist quality runs throughout the book, but remarkably, Fforde makes this bizarre world seem quite real with his incredible attention to detail. It took a couple chapters for my "eyes to adjust", as it were, but soon I found myself pulled right through.

And wouldn't you know it, the Ffink is making it a trilogy.

Best of American Splendor

2011-03-07T19:01:00.000-05:00

I'd long read about Harvey Pekar, and American Splendor, and I'd heard about his passing this past summer. But this was the first time I actually read any of it. I can see why everyone regards it so highly -- he does such an amazing job of capturing the nature of everyday life... in a way, certainly, that has never been done before. I frequently wonder -- why are comic artists so tormented? So much more so, it seems, than writers, or other graphic artists. My guess is that the torment makes the comics... not the other way around.

Marshall McLuhan: You Know Nothing of My Work!

2011-03-07T09:56:00.002-05:00

Oh, man, this was super fun. It caught me off guard that Douglas Coupland was writing a biography -- but it was a biography only he could write. I've dug through other biographies about McLuhan before, but never did I read one that made me understand his career path so clearly -- I expect because this book is so short and focused.

I've had a McLuhan obsession for a long time, even though I've found his books so difficult to wade through. I used to think it was me, but now I see it was Marshall. He just didn't care that people didn't follow him. He just went with the vibe of his thoughts. Building the bridge was the reader's problem. Coupland's book really shows how most of his writing was built off of lectures... which made me feel great, since that's how most of my writing is built. I guess it worked for Aristotle, too. Did you know that all we have left of Aristotle's work is his lecture notes? The books themselves were all burned. Anyway...

I recently got more focused on McLuhan than I ever had been. I had made some corny joke at a party at a neighbor's house, "The Medium is the Mysoginist", I think. (It's a problematic joke. No one ever reads "The Medium is the Massage," so no one gets it.) And the person I'm talking to is the father of the host, and says, "Oh, you know the works of Marshall McLuhan?" and I explained that in my line of work, he comes up a lot. And he says, "Judy and I were good friends with Marshall, when we were younger." It's worth mentioning here that Vince and Judy are extremely venerable, I'm not sure how old they are exactly, but they speak nostalgically about WWI, and visiting the 1935 World's Fair after college, etc. Anyway, I always like talking to them because they are so very interesting and wise. A few months later, I saw them again, and they said, "We're cleaning up our library... would you care to have our collection of McLuhan books?" and... yes... yes, I would. They were kind enough to bring them over, and I was kind of shocked to find that several were inscribed. The gem of the collection, I think, is Understanding Media, in which he wrote, "People will forgive you if you're wrong, but they'll never forgive you if you're right. For Vince and Judy, in affectionate recall of many extended conversations and our mutual investigation of many media. Marshall."

So... I'd tried to read this book before, but always got stymied. But Coupland's biography, combined with the aura of a signed book, have given me new steam -- Coupland has made me understand Marshall much better, and I get less stumped as I read. It is shocking how far ahead of his time he is... he is ahead of us still.

I can see the handwriting of both Vince and Judy throughout the book, annotating passages, and leaving thoughtful notes. In my boldness, I decided I would annotate, too, on the off chance that the world remembers me a little while, and perhaps someone will enjoy seeing a book with such an odd lineage.

Oh! After they gave me the books, Judy says... "Hmm... we have some other stuff Marshall gave us... like his old Tom Lehrer records. Would you want those?"

Yes... yes, I would.

Anyway, I highly recommend Coupland's eccentric biography of good old eccentric Marshall.

Ignore Everybody

2011-03-06T21:15:00.000-05:00

This is a book about something I wrestle with constantly... in short, being an artist. It's lonely and scary -- there's no two ways about it. I don't think there is a way it can't be lonely and scary. If you are going to stay true to that little voice, to that blurry vision, to that fickle scent trail, there is no choice but to ignore everyone... they are just going to make it harder for you to make it come true. It's hard, like climbing Everest is hard... but it's Everest for Christ's sake.

And there's funny cartoons, too.

You can read the first quarter of it free, here.

The Red Balloon

2011-03-05T23:14:00.001-05:00

Found a nice DVD of The Red Balloon at SF MOMA. I always wonder: how did he get that balloon so red? The attention to detail always astonishes me. It's so hard to imagine how the film was made.

Books

2011-02-06T15:32:00.000-05:00

I had no idea that Larry McMurtry was a full-time book dealer as well as a novelist. This was a fascinating look into the world of book dealing, and book collecting. I keep trying to understand my relationship with books, and it's complicated. Reading this inspired me to pay a visit to the juiciest used book shop in Pittsburgh, Caliban books. The thing I found scary about this book was how impersonal it was, how detached. In telling the tale of his life with books, McMurty speaks with so little emotion. Never does he tell a story about how books formed the foundation of a friendship, or much about anything very personal at all. And I guess book people get that way. One concrete thing I took away - McMurtry's writing habit is to get up early, and write five pages, every day, forever. This discipline is how he's written everything. When I wrote my book, I did something like that, though not in the morning. It does take some serious discipline to keep it going.

The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society

2011-01-30T16:27:00.000-05:00

How have I gone my whole life without getting deeply immersed in the Kinks? I mean, I'd heard songs here and there, sure. But how did I miss this? The lyrics from the title track alone...

We are the Village Green Preservation Society
God save Donald Duck, Vaudeville and Variety
We are the Desperate Dan Appreciation Society
God save strawberry jam and all the different varieties
Preserving the old ways from being abused
Protecting the new ways for me and for you
What more can we do?
We are the Draught Beer Preservation Society
God save Mrs. Mopp and good Old Mother Riley
We are the Custard Pie Appreciation Consortium
God save the George Cross and all those who were awarded them
We are the Sherlock Holmes English Speaking Vernacular
Help save Fu Manchu, Moriarty and Dracula
We are the Office Block Persecution Affinity
God save little shops, china cups and virginity
We are the Skyscraper Condemnation Affiliate
God save tudor houses, antique tables and billiards
Preserving the old ways from being abused
Protecting the new ways for me and for you
What more can we do?
God save the Village Green.

Babbitt

2011-01-29T16:30:00.001-05:00

I had previously read Elmer Gantry, and thought it was magnificent, and Babbitt is just as good, if not better. It is amazing to me that something so modern was written in 1922. When I find something so sparking, so alive like this, from so long ago, it is a reminder that people simply don't change that much. The whole club scene culture celebrated by Ke$ha is just flapper culture all over again.

I hardly know what to say about this book. Parts of it resonated a bit close to home (Babbitt is in his forties, owns his own business, struggles with his bad habits, has a wife named "Myra", for God's sake). Parts of it were a really education into the culture of the time -- I'm not sure I've ever heard such a clear description of what it must have been like to have a dinner party during Prohibition in the 20's. All the clear descriptions of business travel by train made me realize that what goes on in airports today is so very similar to what went on in train stations a hundred years back. Consequently, I have a very different experience when I visit airports now -- it used to feel modern and artificial -- now, after reading Babbitt, it feels like I'm taking part in something old and venerated, tried and true.

In short, it is a story about a man so arrogant that he has never bothered to think for himself. But one day, he starts to wake up, and finds that modern society has him in a subtle trap that he is unable to get out of. I am tempted to say that it is the original mid-life crisis novel -- surely, "Rabbit, Run" is meant to evoke a connection to Babbitt. And American Beauty has certain parallels, as well. I kept wondering -- how can this thing possibly end? And I found the ending very pleasing, indeed.

As a footnote -- I listened to the Libravox recording by Mike Vendetti, and found his reading of it quite masterful. There are one or two spots where he trips over words, but, what do you want for free? It just made it seem more human to me. I guess I'll see if there is an audio version of Main Street!

Player One

2010-11-27T15:02:00.000-05:00

This is the first Douglas Coupland novel I've read. I picked it up on a trip to Boston, as it had the appeal of being "A Novel in Five Hours", which, it took me a moment to realize, is the reading time, not the writing time.

So -- I found it fascinating and engaging, but for me, it kind of jumped the shark when the shotgun came out. Why is there always a shotgun? Nonetheless, it was simple, straightforward, and enjoyable -- I particularly liked the business of seeing the same scenes multiple times from the points of view of different characters.

It has a pleasing surprise at the end, as well -- a thirty-page section called "Future Legend", which is a glossary of terms. Some terms were used in the book, but others are just concepts that the book touched on, and still others are not in the book at all. Almost all of them show Coupland's passion for previously unlabeled psychological phenomena.

Some examples:

Drinking Your Own Spit: That's what it feels like to see yourself on TV.

Fictive Rest: The common inability of many people to be able to sleep until they have read even the tiniest amount of fiction. Although the element of routine is important at sleep time, reading fiction in bed allows another person's inner voice to hijack one's own, thus relaxing and lubricating the brain for sleep cycles. One booby trap, though: Don't finish your book before you fall asleep. Doing so miraculously keeps your brain whizzing for hours.

Omniscience Fatigue: The burnout that comes with being able to know the answer to almost any question online.

Anyway, reading this has certainly made me curious to read some other Coupland novels.

Tarbell vol. 2

2010-11-26T22:49:00.000-05:00

More amazing writing about magic. The highlight for me is "Lesson 20: How to Please Your Audience." It's worth it's weight in gold. There's a great billiard ball routine in here too (Lesson 29), and some very affordable homemade stage illusions (Lesson 33).

It's a Wonderful Life

2010-11-26T18:12:00.000-05:00

I think I like all Frank Capra movies, and how can anyone not like this one? Okay, sure, it was overplayed on TV in the eighties. People call it cornball and sentimental, and it is those things, but of course it also has an attempted suicide, a child beaten til he bleeds from the ear, a bar fight, drunk driving, an implied nude scene, and whatever is going on with Violet. Its relentless illustration of the Christian dilemma makes it hard to ignore, and it is just about the only Christmas movie I know that is about Christianity and little else. It's a tough movie for kids to take -- but I'm pretty sure it's good for them. I remember it being good for me.

Now, we all recognize that this is a classic film, and generally, that this is a family film. So, Paramount home video, what is up with you? You proudly call this the "60th Anniversary Edition" DVD, and have some nice extras on it. But... first you make my family sit through a preview of Last Holiday (2006), which gets a 54% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is rated PG-13, and while the trailer claims it is for "All Audiences", it features phrases like "what the hell" and someone grabbing Queen Latifah's ass. And it isn't like this was one of my many previews on here -- it is the ONLY preview on the disc. Really Paramount? This is your move? Does Mr. Potter own you, too?

Keep It Hid

2010-11-23T21:55:00.000-05:00

I was kind of hoping I wouldn't like this Dan Auerbach album, so I could ask for my Dam Auerbach. Anyway, I kind of liked it -- it's sort of a white man's blues kind of thing, that varies from Jimi Hendrix style electric numbers to quiet folky stuff.

Labyrinth

2010-11-23T01:04:00.000-05:00

Yeah, Labyrinth. I don't know what more to say about this -- it was on my mind after I used the ending in my virtual character talk, so I watched it with the family. This movie is a special landmark because it was one of the last fantasy movies made before 3D CG. It really is very special, a special present from Jim Henson. I don't think we can ever see anything like this again. How pleasing that films tend to stay.

All Things Considered

2010-11-21T23:21:00.000-05:00

No, not the radio show -- rather, a book of essays by G. K. Chesterton. These were not anything particularly special -- he is simply reacting to events of his day, seemingly just to get an article written, in most cases. Nonetheless, it is a pleasure to hear him talk, and to hear him think. I rather enjoyed this passage, part of an essay about the purpose of universities:

It is not only possible to say a great deal in praise of play; it is really possible to say the highest things in praise of it. It might reasonably be maintained that the true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground. To be at last in such secure innocence that one can juggle with the universe and the stars, to be so good that one can treat everything as a joke--that may be, perhaps, the real end and final holiday of human souls.

In all, the text is surely not his finest work, and he admits it. But if you like Chesterton, this is a nice way to spend an afternoon with him.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

2010-11-21T23:15:00.000-05:00

How could I not like this movie? Just Terry Gilliam + Tom Waits alone was enough to bring me in. And of course, it is, in some sense, a story of Terry Gilliam, on top of that. I wish I understood the marks that Tony had, though -- I feel like I missed something. At first I thought it was some kind of Cain thing, but now I'm sure I don't get it. I surely loved the eerie beauty of this film, and it was nice to see all of Gilliam's favorite things (victorian era theater, little people, magic portals, cutout animation, the devil, rich old ladies, etc.) laid out in such cheerful display. But... what happened to Anton?

The Games We Played

2010-11-15T17:06:00.000-05:00

A totally different book than this one, I expected this would be the typical collection of photos of 20th century board games, with a few token pics of earlier games. But, to my surprise, it consists entirely of pictures and stories of 19th century games, and to that end it was very enlightening and educational. It is amazing to see how little the game industry has changed -- games still prey on parents' desires to better educate their children, and they still overhype the nature of the play on the cover of the box, and when one good, new, popular idea appears, dozens of ripoffs and sequels naturally follow. The book is enjoyable and enlightening, and it is surprising to realize what dazzling color artwork was possible for mass produced games two centuries ago.

The Sparrow

2010-11-15T12:52:00.001-05:00

This was a SNIB (Schell games Non-Intellectual Book club) reading a few months back. It is definitely one of the most unusual science fiction books I've ever read. It has a distinctly feminine perspective, though most of the characters are male. It is quite interesting to put it side by side with another recent SNIB reading, The Left Hand of Darkness.

Some spoilers below.

At first, I couldn't relate to this book, or any characters in it. But gradually, they began to grow on me. Soon, it was really a book about characters, and not so much about events. The events are incredibly bizarre, and I found myself grinding my teeth in frustration at the unrealistic actions and reactions the characters were having to events. Like, you spend a year traveling to a distant planet, and when you get there, you don't bother to attempt radio communication with the inhabitants, who you know have radio communication. You just put down and land. But, I understood -- if the characters acted with any common sense, the peculiar story would not have been able to happen, and the point of the story is to question our relationship with God and the universe, I guess.

So, in short, this is, without a doubt, the best book I've ever read about a priest getting sodomized by aliens.

The Mysterious Benedict Society

2010-11-14T12:47:00.000-05:00

I had been hearing recommendations about this book for ages, but finally got around to reading it. It really did a great job of sweeping me away -- I found myself deeply curious about what would happen. The book really captures what it feels like to be a smart kid, trapped in a situation where powerful people are doing stupid things. When I was a kid, the closest we had was A Wrinkle in Time, which, I'm just gonna say, starts strong, and gets cornier as it progresses. I believe that college kids in the year 2018 will connect over their shared nostalgia for how this book made them feel less alone when they were in the fifth grade.

I imagine there will be a movie, and I imagine that it will be disappointing.

Nanny McPhee Returns

2010-11-13T19:22:00.000-05:00

We saw this in the theater, and I was surprised at how classy it was. It was a simple, sweet movie, perfect for kids. Another great example of a film made mostly by women.

9 to 5

2010-11-05T14:04:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid, I loved this movie. I think maybe I just love Lily Tomlin. When I happened to see it on, I wondered if it would still hold up for me. I found myself absolutely amazed at how efficiently it was structured -- every moment contributes to multiple meanings and purposes, there is hardly a wasted word in the whole script. I could watch this again and again, just like I did when I was a kid! I had to wonder who wrote this? And who directed it? And the answer is Colin Higgins, with co-writing by Patricia Resnick. So, who is Colin Higgins? Well, he's the director of Foul Play, Silver Streak, as well, and he wrote Harold and Maude -- so, it turns out a lot of seventies movies came from him -- so where did he go? Sadly, he died of AIDS in 1988 when he was only 47. Bummer. But at least we still have his films!

The Way Toys Work

2010-10-21T10:12:00.000-04:00

This is a cool little book by a couple of guys who dissected various toys, like super soakers, the magic 8 ball, the etch a sketch, etc., and they layout the mechanical construction and principles of physics and chemistry that make these toys work, with a little history added into the mix as well, and some tips about how to make some of these toys yourself. Did you know newspapers have changed their ink formula in a way that means silly putty doesn't work with them anymore? No wonder they are going out of business!

Go Figure!

2010-10-13T05:16:00.000-04:00

This is just a book of data -- weather data, how to keep score at bowling, how many drinks make you legally drunk, efficiency of different home heating methods, etc., etc., etc. It's kind of interesting... but also kind of boring. It's the kind of book that would have been handy to have around pre-Internet... but now, well, it's fun to thumb through.

The Handbook of Artificial Intelligence

2010-10-12T17:11:00.000-04:00

Man. I've been lugging these three big volumes around since I bought them at Johnson's Books in Springfield, MA in 1989. Finally I finished reading them! They basically form a survey of the most interesting Artificial Intelligence software before 1981, which makes them of meaningful historical import. It's kind of sad to see how little the field has managed to advance in the last 30 years, though. Like many foolish coders, I've long had a vision of how to code up an intelligent entity... I wonder if I'll ever get around to it?

Clash of the Titans (1981)

2010-10-12T09:59:00.000-04:00

Oh, man, I love this movie, I don't care what Lee Sheldon says. I still remember watching it at the Denville theater with Steve Massuli when it first came out. I know of no other film that captures the magic of Greek mythology this completely. I watched it with my daughter, who was mostly fascinated, and who got SO VERY ANGRY at the cruel Calibos. This brought back a memory, and a strange realization. One of my good friends as a child had some eccentric habits, and had trouble connecting with other kids. He loved to memorize stories, plots, and dialog from fantasy adventure shows he saw on TV and at the movies. When we played Dungeons and Dragons together, his character was a thief, who he named Calibos. This always seemed a little strange to me, since Calibos was such a villainous character. But... thinking about it now, I wonder if there was more of a connection than I realized. Calibos is an outcast due to his deformity, living in the swamp, harboring rage at the world and the Gods because of how they made him. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but maybe my friend related more to Calibos than I could see when I was just a boy.

Best moment watching the movie with Emma -- at the end, when the Medusa head makes the mighty Kraken turn to stone, and then crack and crumble, she smirked and said, "Oh -- *that's* why they call him the "crackin'!"

Aggravation

2010-09-06T22:29:00.000-04:00

I was fortunate to be able to take a tour of the Hasbro factory, and I picked this up in the store. It was a game I had long wanted, but somehow never picked it up. I was surprised by the strange game mechanics it contains. It is a variation on Pachisi, or Sorry!, but with a strange two-level shortcut system in the middle. This system is what gives the game its decisions and strategy -- and when all the players are good at this part of it, it makes a very exciting game indeed! This edition is kind of cheap and cardboardy (it was only $6, so that's okay), but I may seek out an older, sturdier edition.

The Imagineering Workout

2010-09-05T22:26:00.000-04:00

I read this in preparation for this year's Building Virtual Worlds class -- I've picked through it many times before, but never read it cover to cover. What is great about this book is the sheer number of different perspectives on creativity. I only could remember a few after reading it, but then I realized they were the ones I needed most right now. We may do an assignment where we ask the students to pick out which exercise they find most useful.

Of course, the best part about it is the stuff that Mk Haley (my partner in BVW) contributed! :)

Tarbell vol. 1

2010-09-04T22:21:00.000-04:00

To celebrate the new arrival of The Cuckoo's Nest right across the street from Schell Games, I did something I've wanted to do for 25 years... I bought the Tarbell Course in Magic. And it is even better than I would have imagined! His descriptions are so clear, his illustrations are the best I've ever seen, and his blend of theory and practice makes the books a joy to read. Volume One has some great stuff about the history of magic, and clear ways to get started with coin tricks, thumb tip tricks, and a bunch of other great basics. I've always been a terrible magician, but with these books, I'm starting to see the path forward.

The Exploratorium

2010-08-26T13:59:00.000-04:00

I'd heard it was the original and best, and wow, it sure is! It was so unlike most science museums, because it tries to teach so little! It just has dozens, if not hundreds, of interesting things you can play with. Only some of them, the newest ones, try to explain themselves. It is a museum of meaningful interaction, not of words or ideas. I can't believe more places haven't emulated it.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2010-08-25T13:56:00.000-04:00

We'd seen this place on a Nature special recently, and since we were in SF, we figured we might as well go. It was amazing! Definitely the most beautiful aquarium I'd ever seen. The collection of seahorses alone made it worth the trip, and I could look at the goings on in the million gallon tank for hours.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

2010-08-24T13:53:00.001-04:00

I've been to SF many times, but never got a chance to see this place from the inside. It was pretty great -- they had a nice collection. I was also impressed with their kiosk stuff for kids -- it really let kids explore the works of the museum in interesting, thoughtful, interactive ways.

I like any museum where you walk through and say, "That looks like something Magritte would paint... oh wait... Magritte did paint that."

The Courtship of Andy Hardy

2010-08-23T13:50:00.001-04:00

When I was a kid I wanted to be Andy Hardy so much! He had a car, went on these fun dates, and he was so super confident! I've never heard anyone mention the idea that Happy Days seems to be modeled pretty closely on the Andy Hardy movies... but, really, the advice giving Dad, the Mom overwhelmed by teen culture, the sister who wants to go out with older boys, etc., etc. Mickey Rooney sure has had a heck of a life!

Finite and Infinite Games

2010-08-22T16:48:00.000-04:00

This book was very meaningful to me, and very thought provoking. The primary focus of the book is that every activity in life can be approached one of two ways -- as a "finite game," that can be won or lost, achieved or failed, or as an "infinite game", which one plays because it is enjoyable to play it. I touch on this some in my book, and in fact, in the chapter where I discuss what we mean by "game", I quote Carse, even though I'd only read the first few chapters of the book, it was enough to help guide me. I would love to talk in detail about everything he presents, but honestly, I'm not sure I can -- what he presents is simmering away inside me, in some non-verbal way. I just listened to Carse's Long Now talk, which was interesting, but I don't feel like it gave me much more enlightenment. I have the feeling this is a book he brought over from the proto-world, and he probably does not understand it completely himself. I do feel certain that the relationship between our attitude about play and games relates powerfully to the nature of tranquility, which you might recall from here as being central to the meaning of life. I think the missing link is probably harmony, the secret to which I suspect is locked in Christopher Alexander's later books... I wish I could read them properly -- all my attempts have paralyzed my mind with thought. Perhaps I'm almost ready. I do hope I can comprehend this relationship during my lifetime.

Ramona and Beezus

2010-08-21T16:34:00.000-04:00

This movie is a valentine to Beverly Cleary's Ramona books, and I was very pleased that they didn't feel they needed to tell everything -- there were plenty of little things that were drawn from the stories, but didn't need to be front and center. What was most surprising to me was that the primary plotline was about the adults in the story. Interestingly, that didn't really seem inappropriate, or out of place. I haven't read the last two books of the series, perhaps those stories derive from there, I'm not sure. But I do know this -- this movie has something very unusual -- female writers, directors, and producers -- and it really shows. There is a feminine sensibility about the whole thing that fits the world of Ramona like a glove. In short, it was very pleasing to get one more chance to visit Klickitat Street.

The Rational Optimist

2010-08-18T19:48:00.000-04:00

This was a seriously paradigm-shifting book for me. I loved it, because it resonated with many of my own personal beliefs and observations. The premise is that, contrary to almost everything everyone ever says, the human situation keeps getting better with time. All of our human problems, pain, suffering, hunger, war, poverty, pollution, etc., have been getting better for centuries, and will continue to get better for centuries to come. This is a very unpopular viewpoint -- people seem somehow comforted by the idea that the world is going to hell, and are made uncomfortable by the idea that things are getting better.

The book is intensely thorough, and does more than just present data -- it attempts to uncover the forces that are at work making things better, starting with the question of why we have it so much better than the other animals. The answer, Ridley explains, is trade. We are the only animal that trades. Other animals give and take, and use tools, but none of them trade. He even shows interesting evidence that this is what allowed us to kill all the Neanderthals -- they couldn't trade and specialize, and we could. He goes farther, suggesting that our differences in gender roles are probably what got this started.

I found this an incredibly thought provoking book, and it gave me great tools for thinking about the future -- I recommend it highly.

Kippit

2010-08-14T16:38:00.000-04:00

This weird game is really fun, because it has a strange ruleset. I expected the goal was "add blocks, but don't make it tip!" But that's not it at all. To start, you split up the blocks between the two players. On your turn, you keep adding blocks until it does tip -- and your opponent gets any blocks that fall off! The winner is the first one to get rid of all their blocks. So, your goal is to make it tip as dramatically as possible -- which calls for a lot of thinking, experimentation, and some some surprising strategies. Definitely a quick, fun, different kind of game!

You Are Not a Gadget

2010-08-10T15:32:00.000-04:00

I purchased this because I liked that it seemed short, and appeared to have an unusual point. Also, as an aging VR nerd myself, I was kind of wondering what Jaron Lanier was up to. And though it was blessedly short, I found it somewhat disappointing. The book is something of an anti-web2.0 rant. Jaron makes a few tangentially connected arguments:

Jaron's first argument: Web 2.0 is full of templates, and templates diminish creativity, therefore web 2.0 diminishes creativity. This argument seems ridiculous to me, for several reasons. First of all, it is not at all obvious to me that templates diminish creativity -- often, figuring out what you can do in a limited pallet forces one to be much more creative than when you have a plenitude of choices. It's kind of like arguing that musical instruments limit creativity, since they only make certain sounds. Secondly, web 2.0 templates are not very limited, and there seems to be a boundless supply of different ones, and you can always make new ones, if the old ones don't suit you. Third, people on the internet share so much more creative now than they did before, so I have to think that the new templates are helping.

Jaron's second argument: When people give away content for free, it sends a message that the content is not worth anything. He is not talking about stolen content here, he is talking about anything you create and share on the Internet at all. If you write a song, or a joke, or make a short film, and give it away for free, you are hurting the pocketbooks of all content creators, he argues. He gripes that it is intensely frustrating that there is no way to sell digital content for money on the Internet, an argument that struck me as strange considering I paid him $9.99 for the privilege of reading that argument on the Kindle. He suggests that existing piracy problems can be solved with a simple system whereby it is illegal to "own" any content, but that rather you pay to access it in a streaming way. He handwaves the technological challenges (what if you are off the net, etc.) saying they can be solved easily(??). Copyright and how to pay for content are complicated issues, I grant you -- but I have a hard time with the idea that when some people choose to share what they make, it hurts everyone.

Jaron's third argument: Music has hit a plateau of creativity -- it all has sounded the same for the last twenty years, because technology has stifled creativity. I find this a thoughtful observation, but I can't agree with the conclusion. I find that if you look at the history of music, the changes in musical style are largely driven by technology. The 20th century saw an unprecedented evolution of music as technologies changed, giving nearly each decade very distinct sounds. Unfortunately, we seem to be reaching a kind of technological limit of music -- now that we can make any sound, and modulate it any way we want, how can technology continue to drive style? T-Pain's autotuning may be our last tech-driven musical innovation (though I hope that is not true). I guess I feel like 20th century musicians had it easy... they could lean back on new technology for their innovation. 21st century musicians will actually have to innovate their music, not their technology. Jaron then does a rant about the problem is that everyone is stuck in the past -- they need to look to the future, instead. Weirdly, he seems to prove his point by then talking about the greatest VR experience he ever worked on, and yes, it's that dancing lobster from the 80's. So, he's arguing that people should stop pulling inspiration from the past, unless it's from the stuff he worked on, I think.

So, my gripes with the book are that it feels ego-driven, that it makes weakly supported, contradictory arguments, and that it seems to lack a central point. The point is supposed to be that we should be more creative than the machines will let us, but when we do occasionally bump into that point, it feels as if it were by accident.

On the other hand, I have to admit I found the book very provocative. I didn't agree with many of his points and arguments, but I had to stop and think about why I felt that way. Without a doubt, reading it channeled my thinking into interesting avenues I never would have gone down if I hadn't read it, and I continue find my thoughts returning to unanswered questions that the book provoked. And it's short.

The Valley of Decision

2010-08-09T13:42:00.002-04:00

How could I not love this? Greer Garson and Gregory Peck in 19th century Pittsburgh? It's like Upstairs, Downstairs with steel mills. And Lionel Barrymore, too!

Terror Train

2010-08-08T13:42:00.000-04:00

Wait, are you kidding me? HOW did I not know this movie existed? Jamie Lee Curtis and David Copperfield together again for the first time! See, there's a frat party on a train, right? We've all been to those. And of course, they hired a magician. I mean, what's a frat party without a magician? And then of course, people start getting brutally murdered. But no one stops the train or anything... or even the magic show. Anyway, this is an 80's classique!

Mary and Max

2010-08-06T14:40:00.000-04:00

This DVD was a gift from the inimitable Lisa Brown. It is a magnificent telling, via elaborate stop-motion animation, the strange true story of a lonely little girl in Australia who starts an unusual long-term friendship by writing a pen-pal letter to a random address in New York City, which turns out to be the apartment of a grown man, who lives alone, and struggles with a severe case of Asperger's syndrome. The story manages to be both charming and disturbing, as it probes the true nature of friendship, and what it is that we need from each other. I find myself very much haunted by it, as I think about my own strange hobbies, and the local and long-distance relationships in my own life.

Mental Notes

2010-08-05T14:28:00.002-04:00

I'm an avid follower of creativity cards, having produced my own set. Mental Notes is an attempt to lay out principles of psychology that might be useful for web design. You can use them for other things, of course, but there is a bias here towards web design in the detailed descriptions. The Mental Notes deck gave me a lot to think about, because I had, at one point, a plan to create a sequel to my Art of Game Design book, entitled The Psychology of Game Design. Similar to Mental Notes, the idea was to connect various ideas from the world of psychology to game design. Unfortunately, the more I worked on it, the more it felt like an encyclopedia, or maybe I should say, it felt like a deck of cards -- many random principles, but little that built up into anything significant or meaningful, and ultimately I abandoned, or at least set aside, the project. This deck suffers a little from the same problems -- I kind of wish its principles were a little more organized into suits, or some such, and like many survey treatments of psychology, it feels like important things have been missed. That said, it does seem like a useful set of "lenses" to flip through on a project, and you are sure to pick up some meaningful ideas and turns of phrase along the way. And the box is super attractive, so it makes a very nice gift for any designer. You can buy them here.

Despicable Me

2010-08-04T14:17:00.000-04:00

I wasn't sure at all what to expect from this -- and I found it totally delightful! I wonder what it is with comical mad scientists nowadays? Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, Megamind, and this, as well. Really, the movie is about the tension between achievement and being a parent, which is something I think everyone can relate to, because we've all experienced it, or been close to someone who has. I saw it in 2D, and felt like I didn't miss much. It can be difficult to make a villain we can sympathize with, and Gru is just that. Casting Julie Andrews as his mother was a brilliant touch of irony, as well. I really liked everything about this.

The Raw Shark Texts

2010-08-03T14:08:00.000-04:00

This was a recent Schell Games book club reading, that I think I would never have found otherwise. People who saw me reading it kept asking what it is about, and it certainly is hard to describe! It's a strange amnesia-adventure novel that revolves around the idea that the world of words is unexpectedly tangible, and that life forms made of words, concepts, and ideas are around us, and interacting with us, all the time. To make clear the point, the text makes use of clever typography -- I can't imagine that an audiobook would make much sense. I'd be hesitant to even try this on the kindle. Anyway, I wished it had more dimension to it, but it was inventive, novel, and fun, and it made me think a bit about the relationship between life, text, and ideas.

Mary Poppins

2010-08-02T13:50:00.003-04:00

Everybody loves Mary Poppins -- I've easily seen it a dozen times. This was the first time seeing it with my daughter, who, of course, found it delightful. Every time I see it I notice something new. This time it really got me thinking about the fact that Mary's plan, all along, had been to engineer a situation where Mr. Banks would connect with the children -- somehow, this never sunk in with me before. Mary's standoffish attitude always makes me wonder what the best attitude for a teacher really is -- should one make genuine connections with students, or is an air of detached authority more useful? The movie is very good at raising questions... my daughter got to thinking during the film, and asked me, "Do all daddies have secret troubles?" and was surprised to learn that yes, yes, they do.

Good Poems for Hard Times

2010-08-01T13:36:00.000-04:00

A collection of poems selected and arranged by Garrison Keillor. It is what you might expect from Keillor -- a collection of intimate, poignant poems, tending toward realism, carefully selected and thoughtfully arranged. Some are classics, others are from modern poets. I often find books of poems are a challenge to get through, but I found this one something of a delight, good for slow reading on a Sunday afternoon. And at the end, there are short biographies and simple quotes from each poet, giving the poets a kind of respect they do not typically get from a collection. Short poems are often my favorites -- here is a silly one about technology that I committed to memory:

Carnation Milk
by Anonymous

Carnation Milk is the best in the land
Here I sit with a can in my hand--
No tits to pull, no hay to pitch,
You just punch a hole in the son of a bitch.

I actually finished reading this book some time ago -- I had the idea that if I blogged about it, I could part with the book... but now I'm not so sure. Perhaps if I read it again...

Keep Calm and Carry On

2010-07-31T13:34:00.000-04:00

This is a cute book of inspirational quotations that I found in the BALTIC gift shop. I noticed it right away, because the day before a T-Shirt with the same image as the cover caught my eye, and I wondered what it was about. Apparently, the British Government's Ministry of Information created posters with this slogan in 1939, and printed two and half million of them, to be deployed if German invasion became imminent. Fortunately, it did not, and the posters were never used. Decades later, a bookseller bought some at auction, and liked them so much he started selling copies at his shop, and it became a bit of a British fad.

Anyway, the quotes are nothing terribly special, but the book is short, pleasing to read, and looks nice on the coffee table. Some favorites:

The best way out is always through. -- Robert Frost
The robbed that smiles steals something from the thief. -- William Shakespeare
The greatest mistake a man can ever make is to be afraid of making one. -- Elbert Hubbard
Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats. -- Voltaire

Game-based Marketing

2010-07-29T18:30:00.001-04:00

This book, by Gabe Zichermann and Joselin Linder, is meant as a introduction to the idea of using game mechanics as marketing tools, and it does an admirable job of introducing the idea, and examining many examples. As a game designer, I wished there were more details about what really works (for example -- what are best practices for giving out airline miles? Why?) and a bit less speculation about what might work. Personally, I'm always interested in the lessons from real examples, because so many of the ideas we come up with have some fatal flaw that was not obvious until we tried to deploy the game. Oh -- and the authors insist on calling the use of game mechanics in marketing "funware", a phrase that I find inappropriate partly because not all games are designed to be "fun" (some are merely meant to be challenging, compelling, or engaging), and partly because the "ware" part of it implies some kind of tangible mechanism, a la "hardware" or "software", when often these games are simple sets of rules. But that's just me quibbling.

Anyway -- in short, the book is a good introduction to spark your imagination, but if you are looking for details about best practices for implementing games for marketing and advertising, you'll need to look elsewhere.

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art

2010-07-28T18:19:00.000-04:00

And just over the Millennium Bridge (cool!) from Newcastle is the Baltic Art Centre in Gateshead. It is a simple, fun, contemporary art museum. It had a whole floor in tribute to John Cage, with a mix of his visual and audio work, but its most striking exhibit was "Doubtful Sound" by Cornelia Parker, which took up almost a whole floor by itself! It is exhibited marvelously, so you can look at it from a balcony, but then you can also examine the crushed instruments up close - it was an exciting experience.

But what captured my daughter's interest the most was a curious contraption in the back of the children's area -- a simple triangular cylinder that is mirrored on the inside, and is large enough to crawl into. She found it endlessly entertaining -- I'm tempted to try to build one at home.

Oh -- and the baked potatoes in the cafe were amazing!

Newcastle Keep

2010-07-27T18:11:00.001-04:00

While we were in Newcastle for GameHorizon, we did some sightseeing. And part of that was creeping around in the castle that gives Newcastle its name. It's not the fanciest castle, but it's very interesting to creep around in. It really gives one a feeling that living in the dark ages must have been pretty crummy, even for a king. It has a great view, though, which is the point, I guess - you need to see those Scots creeping up on you. Interesting notes about it: They say not to close your eyes when you walk through the attached "Black Gate", because you might suddenly wake up in medieval England through some Twainian mechanism. Secondly, the crenelations on top of the castle were added around 1800, by someone who thought the castle didn't look "castly" enough. Authenticity, indeed.

GameHorizon 2010

2010-07-26T18:23:00.002-04:00

When was invited to speak at GameHorizon, I jumped at the chance. It was a very interesting conference, very intimate, and very high quality. There were some great talks, but for me the highlight was to hear Michael Acton Smith tell the surprising story of Moshi Monsters, which has so many twists and turns, and ended up so happily, it gave me a lot of confidence about my current projects. I also got to chat with Ian Livingstone (co-founder of Games Workshop, pictured), which led me to the realization that there are two Steve Jacksons in the gaming world -- one British, one American -- all this time I thought it was one hyper-productive guy!

Anyway, it was a pleasure to attend Game Horizon, and the organizers were incredibly, uh, organized! They made visiting a real pleasure.

And I think my talk came off okay. There's a summary here, and you can download the slides here. I hope they release a video soon.

The Left Hand of Darkness

2010-07-25T18:10:00.000-04:00

This was a recent SNIB (Schell Games Non-Intellectual Book Club) reading, and I really enjoyed it. I found it hard to get into at first, partly because of all the weird vocabulary. But once I was in, I found it very compelling. Previously, I had only read Le Guin's lesser books (she's written A LOT of books, some of them are going to be lesser), and I always wondered why she was held in such high esteem. Now I know! This is a story set on a world in perpetual winter, about a people who are mostly androgynous. I say mostly, because at mating time (about once a month) they suddenly take on male or female characteristics at random. It is possible for one of these individuals to be both mother and father of different children, at different times in their life, in other words. The book ends up being a subtle exploration of the relationship between gender and identity. And the parallel to the ice world is hard to ignore -- almost as if the sexuality of these people are buried under ice, only emerging for brief periods of thaw.

Taking that metaphor even further, the book itself feels kind of like it is made of ice. On the surface, it is a hard, slow story, but something hidden burns within. I have to imagine even the author doesn't know all the mysteries that reside here. It very much has the feel of a book written by the subconscious. And though it is mysterious, it is very consistent -- Le Guin creates an incredibly solid world. When it was over, it was hard for me to imagine that "kemmer", "shifgrethor", and other concepts were just part of this story -- the world became real, and I didn't want to let it go.

Toy Story 3

2010-07-24T18:01:00.001-04:00

Because of my work on Toy Story Mania, I got to see this about six months back, when it was only partly done. It was exciting to see it finished! When it was partly done, there were a lot of scenes I wondered about -- how would they render that tortilla Mr. Potato Head? How about the garbage, or the furnace? And of course, they pulled it all off brilliantly. This is definitely the darkest of the three films. After we saw it, at home, my daughter said to me, "Daddy, remember how I got to hug Lotso when we were at Disneyworld this year?"
"Yes," I replied.
"I'm kind of sorry I did that."

ARE 2010

2010-07-23T17:46:00.000-04:00

I was incredibly honored to be asked to keynote the ARE2010 conference alongside Will Wright and Bruce Sterling. Highlights for me were getting a chance to talk to those guys, and also getting to meet Rudy Rucker! I had a weird moment where I asked Rudy if he'd heard the announcement Japan has made that they are going to create an outpost of autonomous robots on the moon in 2020, and he just smiled and said, "No, I hadn't heard that." (See, that's the premise of Software, maybe his best known book.)

Anyway, the conference was really cool. I learned a lot about what is going on in the AR world. It really had a feeling like we were at the beginning of something great, like we'd look back one day at that modest gathering, and shake our heads at how naive we were. A bunch of us went out for dinner at the end, and placed bets about how many years this conference will last -- will there be an ARE2020? Most people said 3-5 years... but I don't know... I think that maybe it could go much, much longer.

You can see (crude) recordings of the keynote speeches here: I was really proud at how my talk came off... with one regret -- I had a poem I was going to read to set up the ending, but I was nervous that it would come off corny, or make me go over time. Looking back, I wish I had done it. I hope one day I get a chance to give this talk again.

"X" The Man with the X-Ray Eyes

2010-07-22T16:53:00.001-04:00

This is one of my all-time favorite movies, a Roger Corman classic. As I was prepping my talk for the ARE2010 conference, it kept coming to mind, so I sat down and watched the whole thing (on the plane on the way to the conference), and it proved to be the anchor for the whole talk! For such a goofy movie, it has surprisingly deep implications. I wonder what else its screenwriter has written?

Toy Story 2

2010-07-21T16:42:00.001-04:00

This was the first time my daughter had seen it, in our ramp up to Toy Story 3. She really enjoyed it. Man, that Sarah McLachlan song makes me cry every time. The idea of toys as a metaphor for parents is subtle and clever. I honestly do think it is a better movie than the orginal. I hear tell that they originally had planned to do a 2D direct to DVD release of this movie, but the script ended up so strong, they changed their minds.

Replay

2010-07-20T13:31:00.001-04:00

I love time travel stories, and this unusual one was suggested to me by Kyle Gabler. It's got a very unusual premise -- kind of a Groundhog Day that takes the entirety of your life. I had mixed feelings on the book, though -- it had some great thinking in it, and it occasionally rises to some meaningful philosophical questions, but at the same time, I felt like it had a lot of filler -- long story arcs that didn't really mean much, or go anywhere. And if there is one that that drives me COMPLETELY CRAZY, it is when people in paranormal stories don't think through their situations. There are times when the characters had 10 or 20 years to prepare for a certain event, and when it happened, they were like, "Doh! It didn't occur to me that *this* would happen!" Which was irksome to me because I only had 30 minutes to think about it, and I saw it coming, because it was pretty obvious.

In short, this was one of the rare times I was sorry it was an audiobook, because I would have been doing a lot of skimming. And yet -- I have to admit it made me think.

Weirdly, the audiobook has the same narrator as Anathem. He must really like long books about parallel universes.

Great Games for Big Activity Balls

2010-07-19T13:29:00.001-04:00

The mighty powers of Todd Strong and Bernie DeKoven unite! And they made this really fun book for phys ed teachers about games and activities you can play with giant balls. It's a great book with practical advice about obtaining and maintaining giant balls as well as deciding which ones to get and why. It's full of great games, and each is described taking into account the psychology of kids -- what games are best to start with, when the kids are all excited just to experiment with the balls -- which games are most likely to lead to hurt feelings, and how to handle that. And they are very mindful of safety considerations, as well. If you want to play games with giant balls (and who doesn't -- they're super fun!) this is the authoritative book on the topic.

Scrabble Slam

2010-07-18T13:19:00.001-04:00

I learned about this super cute card game after I got a chance to visit Hasbro. Apparently it's been a big seller for them. It's cute, fun, and really fast. Average game takes maybe five minutes to play. One player lays out a word, and the other players then, in a free-for-all, overlay that word with other letters that also make words -- turning "fern" into "tern" into "term", etc. The cards are weirdly two sided, so that you have more letters, and it makes for more frantic fun. Simple, cute, and a smart way to extend the scrabble brand.

Anathem

2010-07-14T21:15:00.000-04:00

Wow. This was a LONG book. And I did it on audiobook. It was, what, 27 CDs, I think. And, at the end of all that, I'm still uncertain how I feel about it. Without a doubt, I loved parts of it. The whole idea of mathematical monks living in a monastery, the concept of layers of monks, some of whom can only see the outside world once a year, some every ten years, some every hundred years, and some every thousand, that was all cool and fun. Really, what I enjoyed most was hearing the traditions of the monks, and why they were that way. One that really gave me pause was a tradition where every junior monk was assigned to a senior monk, and was to attend to their needs at meals. The idea being that this gave the juniors a chance to overhear and discuss (in the kitchen) what the elders were talking about. I often think about how I wish my students were able to overhear faculty conversations in this way.

So... for all the cool stuff I liked, there was maybe an equal part that made me roll my eyes. Action scenes in the arctic, in space, basically, all the action scenes I could have done without. And Neal Stephenson has this other habit that drives me crazy -- he goes into great detail about some small thing that isn't very interesting in itself, but also plays no role in the overall story whatever... and I look back thinking, "why in the world did you spend time talking about that?!" Historical battle recreation with weeds, I'm looking at you!

Anyway... this was thoughtful, imaginative, and fun, with lots of interesting surprises. It's all told first person, too, which makes for an interesting novel - more interesting, in some ways. When it was over, I was kind of sad - because I liked the world he crafted, and I realized there'd be no going back. In the end, I was really surprised to realize what a solid, compelling world he had created.

R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders

2010-07-14T20:53:00.000-04:00

I finally found the first album! It was not easy to find. It has some fun songs on it, but Number 2 is still my favorite. Hey... I never put number 3 on here! That's strange... and it was the first album I got, some twenty years ago.

It's nice having all three of these together... they sound so nice and warm on vinyl. And I love that Blue Goose Label.

Ipod Shuffle

2010-06-18T18:39:00.000-04:00

Someone was kind enough to give me one of these as a gift. I'd never looked closely at one before -- I was blown away by it. It's no bigger than a stick of gum, and holds 4G of music. The interface is insanely simple -- one switch that set to either "off", "play" or "shuffle." Why you'd want anything but shuffle on this is hard to imagine, since the only navigating you can do is with the button on the special headphones. One click = pause, Two clicks = go to next song, Three clicks = last song. So, basically, it's great if you want a random selection of music, with no thinking. And it sounds great. Now, amazon reviews indicate that the special headphones don't stand up to sweat very well -- but, that hasn't been a problem for me.

I mean, I remember when the Sony Walkman was a huge innovation in the music experience. What will music players look like in ten years?

Howl's Moving Castle

2010-06-16T16:20:00.002-04:00

Hm! Two Howls in a row. I'd been meaning to see this for a while, and I'm glad I did. It's so charming and magical. It's the sort of film that could never get made in the US -- it doesn't make enough sense. But somehow, Japanese fantasy doesn't need to make sense the way American fantasy does -- there's something so much more right-brained about Japanese fantasy -- the world can be dreamlike, and that's okay. It's the characters that make this film -- Sophie, the scarecrow, even the talking fire. Despite the chaos and danger of the story, the film succeeds in creating a place that one would want to visit again and again -- a place that feels safe and comfortable, even when the whole world has gone crazy. And maybe that's what all of us are looking for.

Howl and Other Poems

2010-06-14T16:10:00.001-04:00

I've heard recordings of Ginsberg reading these poems out loud, and it is very clear to me that most of them want to be read out loud. I don't know how I get that feeling, exactly, but "America" definitely wants to be read aloud, whereas "An Asphodel" would probably prefer not to.

Howl is the strongest of the lot, of course. Reading it makes me long for the sixties, long for a time when there was an establishment to rage against, that manufactured enough rage in everyone that when you screamed, others screamed with you, or were horrified by your screaming. Here in the future, when you scream, people just laugh, if they notice you at all.

Fantasy: The Golden Age of Fantastic Illustration

2010-06-12T12:17:00.001-04:00

This is a book of images of fantasy illustrations from the late 1800's to the early 1900's. It was very inspiring to look through and to study, and it led to me to discover some things I can't believe were new to me! I had never heard of "Bill the Minder", for example, or of "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens", which is clearly an important part of the Peter Pan / Tinkerbell canon! But mostly, it is a wonderful reference for finding emotional keynotes if you are creating any kind of fantasy worlds -- I get rid of most books I read, but this will stay on the "art reference" shelf.

The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike

2010-06-10T11:13:00.003-04:00

I saw this book in a shop window when I was strolling around San Francisco a few months ago, and couldn't resist. No one but Phillip K. Dick could have written this book. While some of his books are very sci-fi, he has others that are more rooted in a depressing kind of suburban angst. This book is definitely the latter category. Whenever I read his books that feature that kind of feeling, I can't help but think that the events and situations are taken from his own life. But then, the direction that this book goes is so very strange -- not in any kind of science fiction way -- but rather a kind of surreal world that somehow seems more surreal because it all is explainable.

It took me a long time to get through it because it is kind of depressing -- it didn't exactly draw me through. One thing I find with every PKD novel, though, is that there is one character in each book that, to my mind, clearly is PKD. So, it's like PKD is a character that recurs in all his novels, and that was true here, too.

Edward Tufte Lecture

2010-06-08T10:46:00.007-04:00

I went to this because for years I've meant to read the Tufte books, but whenever I try, I find them a bit dry, and just kind of pick around. I thought maybe if I attended his day-long lecture, it might give me more of a handle to the books. And in fact, all attendees get all four copies of his book, in a box with a handle, which seems a good omen!

The lecture was a full house, with maybe 200-300 attendees. I worried at the beginning -- he did not warm up to us, but initially seemed kind of cold and distant. But, as time went on, he started addressing us a bit more warmly. I had been warned that he was a man of stong opinions, and that was certainly true -- but strong opinions make for good lectures, because they make the audience think.

I'm a book nerd, so the coolest parts for me were when he would bring out these ancient tomes (first edition of Euclid's elements, etc.) and bring them around to show us how text and imagery were much more wisely combined in the past.

The key points I took away:

Giving people more data, as opposed to less data, is much more useful to them if it is presented in a way that they can explore it easily and draw their own conclusions.
Find a way to create a "supergraphic" of your important data. That is something with as much information as possible, shown in ways that are easily explorable.
Powerpoint is for giving pitches, not for presenting data. Tufte takes a very hard view here, saying "pitching out corrupts within." The idea is that powerpoint is such a narrow channel of information that it can only allow for leading people down a single train of thought, and this can make both the presenter and audience unable to see the bigger picture. Tufte recommends abandoning powerpoint, and handing out a small number of printed sheets of paper that show your supergraphic. I had to think hard about this -- since I make frequent use of powerpoint. However, I'm seldom using it to explore data, but rather to show a chain of thought. That said, it is clear to me that there are several places in my life that creating some supergraphics would be of value. But, wow -- creating good ones is a lot of work.

Anyway, I definitely recommend attending the Tufte lecture, if you get a chance. I still haven't read all the books, but I feel like I have a much better handle into them -- hopefully I'll find time to read them soon!

How to Train Your Dragon

2010-06-06T10:44:00.000-04:00

Dreamworks sure has gotten the hang of how to tell a story! This was kind of formulaic, but fun. It certainly made great use of the stereoscopy. The whole thing got me thinking about the future of 3D stereo -- and I think my main conclusion is that it's great for movies with a lot of flying, and not so good for everything else. It's interesting to compare this with Avatar.

I went to this with people who'd read the book, and they were a little frustrated with how different (pointlessly different, they said) it was from the book. My main gripe with the movie was that the ending was kind of anti-climactic -- the giant monster could have been a heck of a lot more giant.

My favorite parts were the characterization of the vikings -- their stylization was totally fun.

Toy Story

2010-05-23T19:27:00.000-04:00

Of course, I've seen Toy Story before -- but it was the first time my daughter had seen it. And actually, this is the first time I watched it all the way through since we started the Toy Story Mania project way back in 2006. I had totally forgotten how dark it is. Not so much the stuff with Sid, but rather how ruthless Woody is. It is very much a story of Woody overcoming his demons. It's interesting to contrast the original movie poster (shown here) with the one that they put on the DVD box. It's interesting to reflect on the fifteen years that have passed since this movie came out. It's hard to believe that back then the idea of a fully CG film was such a novelty. I remember all the hype, and then the trailer came out, and I heard a friend say, "Oh... is that all? It's like Gumby." :)

PS: the new Toy Story 3 content for Toy Story Mania went live today! :) :) :)

Danny Deckchair

2010-05-14T23:39:00.001-04:00

I think I heard about this movie from my Mom? I can't remember. Anyway, it is super cute, and super fun. It's a romantic comedy about a frustrated city dweller, who, through a bizarre accident, sails away into the sky on a bunch of balloons. He lands in a small town, and has adventures. It feels like a movie Frank Capra would have made, if he were living in the 21st century, and was Australian. Anyway, it manages to be both super corny, and thoroughly enjoyable. "I've got an idea -- how about a pancake breakfast in the carpark?" has becoming a running joke in our house.

PBS Kids Producers Summit

2010-04-20T14:45:00.001-04:00

This was so cool! The PBS Kids people have a yearly gathering of all their TV and Web producers, to get together and share data and techniques. I was lucky enough to be invited as a keynote, and I got to meet the creators of so many cool shows! Folks from Henson, The Kratt brothers, the makers of Magic School Bus, the Blues Clues / Super Why people, not to mention Sesame Workshop, and so many others. It was a real honor to be able to talk to people who know so very much about how to create world-class educational programming! I gave a talk about Transmedia Worlds, (slides here), that went over pretty well. I might get a video I can put up sometime soon.

Little Creatures

2010-04-19T16:36:00.002-04:00

It might seem strange, but this was the first Talking Heads album I bought. They were somewhat in decline at this point, but it was 1985, when I was fifteen. When they were all cool and new in 1977, I was only seven years old. It was a big deal to me, this was some of the first "serious" music I ever bought. I remember being incredibly disappointed when I first listened to the album, in the attic of the house on Perkins Street. The songs just didn't grab me, or move me the way I hoped they would. (Not too surprising -- these are apparently the songs that didn't make it into their True Stories movie soundtrack.) However, I was quite surprised when I found them growing on me, and by the fourth time I listened to the album, I was really into it. It's funny the effect remembering music has on us. Every time I listen to this, I'm back in that cozy warm attic with the yellow wallpaper, hacking away on my Atari 800XL. I've never again had so serene a retreat. I know I feel a pull to start coding again... I wonder if that's why I pulled out this old album?

Uno

2010-04-18T13:23:00.000-04:00

Yeah, baby! It's Uno! Everyone loves Uno, right? The magic of Uno is hard to describe. I guess some of it is about the choice of who to harm, and some of it is is about the seemingly meaningless choice of which card to play, but the key part is having to say "Uno" when you have one card left -- building suspense in a weird way that I haven't seen in any other game.

I always love the story about how Merle Robbins created the game. The wikipedia article says he sold the 5000 decks he printed out of his Barber Shop, but that's just not possible, right? My understanding is he filled a van with them, and toured around to nursing homes and senior centers, demoing the game, and selling the decks, with a hook of, "Here's a game that you can play with your grandkids." Anyway, no publishers were interested when he started out, but after he'd sold 5000 decks on his own, he was able to get the attention of a publisher, and, well, the game's done alright.

Burnt Offerings

2010-04-17T17:21:00.000-04:00

I always love a seventies horror movie. This one has connections to the past (clear influences from The Old Dark House), and the future -- I'm pretty sure that the creators of Amityville Horror must have seen this and said, "what if Burnt Offerings were actually scary?" Because, mostly, this movie is more weird than scary. In short, happy family rents a house at an unexpected price, but with unexpected obligation of taking care of and old lady in the attic that no one ever sees. Then they all go crazy, with horrific results. But, with Bette Davis and Burgess Meredith* its a really fun movie to watch. On top of all this, it has Karen Black in it -- one of the hardest working women in show business. Oh -- and it was based on a novel -- and it shows. There are several parts that probably made sense in the novel, but don't make ton of sense here. Anyway, it's fun and trippy.

*Weird side note regarding Burgess Meredith's name. For some reason, my whole life, I can never recall his name! It's not that I forget the man, I can just never remember his name! I remember having this problem in third grade when we talked about Rocky, and I still have it now -- I had to look it up on IMDB -- I just could not recall it to mind? Why in the world is that? Sometimes, when I try to recall him, I come up with Sterling Holloway, who sounds a *little* like him, but, I don't know... Anyway, I can never remember Burgess Meredith's name.

Weezer (Blue Album)

2010-04-04T19:34:00.000-04:00

All that thinking about rock made me bring out this CD, which I hadn't listened to in ten years. I tried listening to their later albums, but none of them captured the same vibe that this one does. My new thinking about rock gave me new understanding for this album -- it isn't important if songs make sense. It's just important that they feel right when you make them. It's appropriate that they had such a hit with "Buddy Holly" on this album -- there is clearly a connection on this album to his music -- and I think it is because they rock the same way he does. Simply, clearly, with songs that have strong hooks, but don't really make much sense.

Rock U University Spring 2010 Concert

2010-04-03T19:20:00.001-04:00

This was awesome. Kids ages 9-16 bringing it at the Hard Rock. We went because one of our neighbors was playing (Sam, age 9, playing guitar for The Flaming Potato Ninjas), and it was totally fun. As I sat listening, I started to think about this awesome article. And I realized, that until now, I've never really understood rock music. I mean, the process of making it. And how the point really is that you need to let the subconscious mind, and the right brain, do their work. It made me think how rock bands almost never have more than four members, just like my BVW groups. Then I got to thinking how my band has sixty people in it... but the rocking never seems to happen in groups larger than four.

In other words, I need to start coding again.