Month: March 2005

The retreat mentioned in the 1981 movie My Dinner With Andre.
Web link of note: Findhorn
(At http://www.findhorn.org)

MakingRoom is a magazine about the process, intention and results of image-making. This is our first issue and we’ll be publishing online issues on a quarterly schedule. We will also be releasing an original print issue each year so watch for details on that in the coming months.

Web link of note: Making Room
(At http://www.makingroom.com/)

A high-end DVD case “solution” which lets you make very pretty DVD cases for disc presentation.

We are professional designers who were unsatisfied with the materials available for packaging our DVDs and CDs. We created Jewelboxing to allow individuals to produce a short-run of high-end packages and to give them the freedom to concentrate on the most important part of the job, the creative. We’ve chosen the Super Jewel Boxâ„¢ King and Standard cases, created complementary components of the highest quality and made precise design templates for virtually all major design and publishing software programs.

Web link of note: Jewelboxing
(At http://www.jewelboxing.com/)

I was playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and “met” the character Wu Zhi “Woozie” Mu. This is an animated character, with a human actor’s voice playing during the cutscenes. But Woozie’s voice sounded odd to me… not really credible as a Triad (“Chinese mafia”) leader.

For one thing, he sounds way too young to be a leader- maybe this is intentional. Also… he has no accent. Actually, he has a very slight accent, but it isn’t like anything I’ve heard from any of my Chinese or Chinese-American friends. The person he sounds most like to me is documentarian John Neely, who I happen to know is half Japanese. Neely does not have an accent.

Turns out the voice actor is Japanese. This is my pet peeve, even when it turns out in favor of Japanese-Americans- ALL LOOK SAME. Please directors, if the character is Chinese, use a real Chinese American voice actor. But was I just lucky? Or is there something subtle there I am registering?

Racist! Or… connoisseur?

A whole site for iPod guides. I downloaded the torrent for the SXSW sampler there. Cool!
Web link of note: Citizen Pod
(At http://citizenpod.com/)

This site tracks DVD releases of TV shows. You could just buy the shows in their entirety and never pay your cable bill again!
Web link of note: TV Shows on DVD
(At http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/)

Doug Tipple’s PVC Irish Flutes

This guy makes flutes out of PVC pipe! They look really cool… my friend is teaching himself to play.
Web link of note: PVC Flute
(At http://home.earthlink.net/~life2all/dougswebspace/)

This book looks cool- do NOT buy it off of Amazon; it will take them literally MONTHS to send it to you. Instead, just order it off the publisher’s site!

(I just ordered it myself)

Web link of note: Killer Camera Rigs You Can Build
(At http://dvcamerarigs.com/)

A film “contest” in which you make a 5 second film… and maybe win a Cadillac.

It’s an interesting concept. How would you do it?

Ultimately, it is hampered by a few factors:

• The contest is tied in with “Be Cool,” the sequel to “Get Shorty.” I liked the book, I read the first book and liked the first movie. But out of the context of the story, John Travolta / Chili Palmer is just irritating. I don’t want to see him lecturing me about my browser.
• To add insult to injury, none of the winners are that interesting. To make an actual 5 second short that is compelling is left as an exercise for the reader.
• Who the hell wants a Cadillac? How trashy.

Web link of note: Cadillac in 5
(At http://www.cadillacunder5.com/presentation/siteindex.html?)

Trendy T-shirts- one of them has a pocket in the middle for your iPod. I’d get one… except it’s a vertical red-rimmed slit. Yuck.
Web link of note: Koyono
(At http://koyono.com/)