Mo’ betta’ Cinemagraphs

In a previous post I featured some really cool examples of cinemagraphs.  Brace yourselves because here is another batch.  All of these are great and I would have a hard time choosing a favorite.  The Godfather (#13) and the first one from The Shining (#14) are right near the top for me.  Enjoy, and let me know which are your favorites.

Watterson is still wise

A sad day for me was when Bill Watterson retired his Calvin & Hobbes cartoon strip.  Imagine my pleasant surprise today when I ran across this gem.  Sweet.

She gave up water skiing!?

Justice Ginsburg:  You go girl!

Backin Up Song!!

Posted something yesterday with a link to a video and found that it was somehow shanghaied by a bunch of porn links.  So I took it down.  Now I have found a clean link to the video so I’m trying again.

Anyway, the upshot of my post was that I love the Internet because your run across goofy yet accomplished performances like this one that just make your day.  Were it not for the Net, the only way you would ever see these guys doing this performance would be if they were your close friends or neighbors doing it in their garage.

Some Herman Leonard photos

Enjoy these wonderful Herman Leonard photos.

Orphan Black

Television is just getting too good these days.  There are so many fine shows that I barely have time to watch them all.  Some of my favorites these days, in no particular order, are: 

• Ray Donovan
• The Bridge
• Orange is the New Black (Netflix production)
• Sons of Anarchy
• House of Cards (Netflix production)
• Homeland
• Game of Thrones
• Breaking Bad
• The Borgias (sadly, not renewed)
• Justified
• Mad Men
• The Good Wife
• Elementary (gotta get my Lucy Liu)
• Shameless (gotta get my Emmy Rossum)
• Girls

There are probably several more I’m forgetting, but that is a pretty formidable list.  (I just recorded the first episode of “Broadchurch” but have not watched it yet). 

But, I still haven’t mentioned the shiny new toy I’ve discovered:  “Orphan Black.”  This show is some of the best TV I’ve seen lately.  I guarantee that if you watch the first episode you will be hopelessly hooked.  The show is a Canadian production under the BBC umbrella.  It stars Tatiana Maslany who is simply arresting, playing  6 different characters, all with different accents and looks.  Through the magic of today’s special effects, several of these characters are on screen at the same time, which makes the experience even more intense and believable.  As several publications have noted, the Emmy’s snub of Maslany is downright criminal.  Anyway, check out the show’s website here.  The entire first season is “in the can.”  I’m watching it through Comcast “On Demand,” BBC.  I’’m five episode in and am already dreading the season’s end at episode 10.  But thankfully there is going to be a season 2, starting spring 2014.  Note:  season 1 has been released on DVD and Blu-Ray. Take my word for it, this is a fabulous show.  Do not miss it.

EMP Museum

When we were in Seattle recently, we went to the EMP Museum.  EMP stands for "Experience Music Project". The museum is dedicated to the history and exploration of popular music and science fiction; the building is located on the campus of the Seattle Center, site of the 1962 World's Fair. It was designed by Frank Gehry.

The experience was pretty awesome.  I would like to go back someday, just by myself so that I could spend the whole day there, moving at my own pace.  My daughter and her family, including 2 grandkids were along, so I was not afforded the opportunity to linger when I wanted to.

Some of the high points:  a terrific Jimi Hendrix exhibit that was well worth the whole trip (remember, Jimi was from Seattle); a really fascinating exhibit of women in rock, pop, and country, which included  displays of actual dresses or outfits that they performed in (a lot of them were really tiny, the smallest being the dress that Brenda Lee wore on the Ed Sullivan show); a 70 foot high sculpture made up entirely of guitars all fastened together [See pictures below – they bar flash photography so the pictures are a bit blurry]; a big-screen movie room with awesome sound, which showed performances of a multitude of cool artists.  A true highlight there was the Michael Jackson “Thriller” video, on the huge screen with killer audio cranked up high – man, I forgot how good that actually was. You can read all about the museum on its website, here.  

The guitar sculpture from first floor

The guitar sculpture rising up into the third floor.  It is a tall piece of work for sure.

Blue Jasmine–Mick’s take

OK, you all know by now that Mick LaSalle is my favorite movie critic, and that Woody Allen is a director/writer whom I admire with unfeigned reverence.   Add to that mix a main ingredient of Cate Blanchett (who has been in my top 3 actresses for ages), and throw in a little Alec Baldwin in his evolved persona, and you’ve got the makings of  something, delectable, if not jaw-dropping.  Yep, it is actually being served up for you in theaters across the land right now:  “Blue Jasmine.”  Check out Mick’s orgasmic review right here and then get in line immediately.  I can hardly wait.