Monday, June 16, 2008

Google Street View

In case you were wondering how they shoot those street views, here’s one of the cars.

RIP: Stan Winston

I had the pleasure of meeting him once when trying to get one of my comics made into a film. Stan was a nice guy and a real pioneer in his field.

Stan Winston, an Oscar-winning visual effects artist, has died at age 62.

Winston died at home Sunday evening after a seven-year struggle with multiple myeloma, according to a rep from Stan Winston Studio.

“Stan died peacefully at home surrounded by family,” a spokeswoman said.

Winston won four visual effects Oscars and earned multiple nominations. His first Oscar was for James Cameron’s “Aliens” (1986). Winston later won two Oscars for “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1992) (visual effects and makeup) and 1993’s “Jurassic Park.”

Phil Tippett, who shared a visual effects Oscar with Winston on “Jurassic Park,” noted that Winston was one of the best in the business.

Ha Ha

Like that would work.

The Ten Oldest Bars in the US

All on the east coast, of course.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

A New Dark Knight Trailer

Speed Drawing

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Another Reason AGW Hysteria is Screwing Us

In Case You Were Wondering

Fuel and food prices are not rising due to global warming or peak oil. Prices are inflated for the same reason houses and comic books were in the recent past.

Speculators.

And if other past cases are an example, it will get a lot worse before there is a market crash and a lot of people get burned. The good news is, fuel and food prices will drop like a stone when its over.

The New British Retro

It kind of started with Amy Winehouse, who has a sound that reminds one of Etta James and early 60s girl rock. Now there are more artists coming out of the UK that have that early 60s sound and so far I am really liking their stuff.

While I was in the theater yesterday, waiting for the Hulk movie to start, they were playing some music on the PA I thought for sure was some great old tune, but it was a promo for James Hunter’s new CD. Never heard of him so I checked his website.. Good stuff. I will definitely buy his CD when it comes out.

I’ve also recently started listening to Duffy’s new CD. She’s another singer from England who has adopted that retro sound.

Frankly, I like this back to basics sound. The music business has gotten so over processed and fake lately, with so many of today’s artists relying heavily on computer enhancement to their tracks that they can’t be played live. They often lip sync in concert. It’s pretty sad.

These new artists have a more raw, real quality to their work. And I think that has the potential to really catch on. After all, this decade is almost over. It’s time to throw out the old and usher in a new wave of sounds. Who knows, they might just throw out hip-hop/sudio pop and replace it with roots-rock.. 

Hulk