automobiles

Over the weekend Andrea and I rented Pixar's Cars. It was wonderful, you'd probably have to be in the right mood to watch it without kids around. We still laughed a lot.

I was most amazed at the way they bring the cars to life. Other Pixar movies like Toy Story, Incredibles, Nemo - those movies were built on objects that already have mouths and eyes, so making them talk and giving them a personality isn't that much of a jump. Cars don't have as much inherent personality and emotion about them, but these animators worked their wonders and I felt more joy and sorrow with these animated cars than for human characters in other not-so-great movies. Just incredible.

living online

Over at Long Tail there's a great post on the lack of a "diary" feel that comes with chronicling one's life online. There's no little plasticky lock protecting those thoughts anymore. It's a quick read, and so is the Michael Kinsley Slate piece he links through to - Chris Anderson uses the word amusing to describe the article, which is fitting.

I disagree with Michael Kinsley on many levels on this, but the main one is that if I'm not friends with Doug, it doesn't offend me that he has a site that he tries to update with what he's doing... in fact his site is quite entertaining. That's the great thing about all these new ways of communicating - it's our choice what we look at. It's not as if CNN is jamming Doug's whereabouts down our throats.

video of the week #3

Better than the original? I think so.

second edition - youtube video of the week

Another show I don't remember, but this cartoon looks like it could have influenced a lot of kids for the better.

new circus

Over the weekend we went to the Cirque du Soleil show here in DC. It was unreal, I truly felt like I had entered into a fantasy world for 2 and 1/2 hours. Music and visuals were perfectly timed to provide ups and downs of emotion, from sadness to laughter to wonderment. Juggling, tightrope acts, oversized trampolines, giants, and people flying through the air dangling from 5 helium balloons were all part of the act. The only slight disappointment was the ending, which felt more like a gymnastics meet than a circus. All things considered I was, and still am, in awe.

This was the first Cirque du Soleil I've seen, so I was unaware that the show takes place in a tent. That was a nice surprise - it felt authentic and intimate.

ouch

via Pop Candy

youtube video of the week

In our efforts to become a little more interesting/generalist, we're going to post a random video from youtube or similar site every week here. Here's our first try.

The world was probably a better place with this show around - Sledge Hammer. I've never seen it, but it looks fantastic:

applesauce

In the spirit of the planning school of the web, I think it's fitting to share my response to assignment 10, so here are my ten selling propositions for apple supermarket posters. Some are better than others, and if I could re-submit I would change a few after looking at them again, but anyways, here they are:

1. The fruit Swiss Army knife. Baked. Fried. In a pie. Candied. Dried. Juiced. Crisped. Sauced. Wassailed. (16)

2. William Tell shot one off his son’s head with an arrow. Don’t try this at home. (16)

3. Bring out your inner Johnny Appleseed. (6)

4. We went to the orchard so you don’t have to. (10)

5. Wrapped in shiny edible Kevlar. (5)

6. Ditch the daily multi-vitamin. Have an apple instead. (9)

7. Save the globe. Have an apple wrapped in nature’s decomposable package. (11)

8. Even if you don’t eat it in time, throwing rotten apples against a tree is as good as it gets. (20)

9. It’s where apple juice comes from. Make some with ours and forget the word ‘concentrate’ on that bottle. (18)

10. We bet an apple that you can’t find every seed inside any one of these. (15)