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Dec 05
- Adobe is reporting disappointing sales and a soft economy are to blame for their 600 layoffs this week. Maybe the $699 price point for Adobe Photoshop CS4 is something they should re-consider? Drop it to $299 and I bet they’d make more money. Drop it to $199 — the price of Lightroom — and they’d recoup money from pirates and make a bigger profit. Change the upgrade path to a $99 price point while you’re at it and set Elements to $50.
But, hey, it’s easy to be the Monday Morning quarterback on this one. And maybe I just want to buy a cheap copy of Illustrator and Photoshop. ;-)
- Homicide Actress up for Oscar Best Actress contention?!? Very cool!
- I missed this on the DVD list recently, but “Elton John: Tantrums and Tiaras” is available on DVD now. It’s a documentary tracking the tour for the “Made in England” album. I really liked that album. Heck, it might be the last of his albums I really liked, before he decided to turn into an old sentimental crooner.
- eBay Death Watch: eBay held a holiday contest. And the scripters came. And eBay had no idea what the rules of their own contest were, or what they meant. Chaos, one should think, ensues.
- Ah, The Rainbow Connection. Listen to it over and over and over again at the link. If that’s not enough for you, how about the original Sesame Street Christmas Special? This was a staple from my childhood. My family even had the vinyl of it. If “Keep Christmas With You” sung and signed at the same time doesn’t warm you up, you’re a soulless corpse.
- They’re still working on a “Foundation” movie. I’m sure it’ll stink. Maybe Asimov was too cerebral a writer? The first couple of “Foundation” novels are awesome, though. Well worth a read.
- Weezer recorded new songs specifically for a Christmas iPhone App. Songs are not being made available in any other way at this time.
Dec 05, 2008 @ 12:44:23
H:LotS’s Melissa leo for an Academy Award – how cool is just the possibility of that. While never the showcase superstar that Andre Braugher was, on repeat viewing – you notice the subtlety and complexity of her amazing her acting ability really was. Hell, in one episode, she played both herself and her sister – and most people after having watched the episode, had no idea that she was playing BOTH roles and it wasn’t someone else. She played the part realistically – as a flesh and blood female cop – rather than just a 38d secretary wth a gun ( as was often potrayed both then and now ). Unfortunately, not being the typical tv-fantasy, is probably what lead up to her being unceremoniously canned off the show, when they decided they wanted better ratings.
Dec 05, 2008 @ 13:34:07
The FOUNDATION trilogy … well, the original three books, anyhow… are classics in terms of ideas, plotting, and intrigue over characterization and dialogue (two things Asimov himself admitted were not his strong suits). I love them to death (along with the Robot stories and novels), but filmable? That’s a TALL order… the books are really a collection of inter-related short stories taking place over centuries.
In a perfect world, FOUNDATION would be an HBO series (or maxi-series) in which every aspect of Asimov’s world (and Hari Seldon’s plans, as well as The Mule’s disruptions) could be fully explored. Heck, if you wanted to you could incorporate the Robot stories as part of the backstory, although the way Asimov did it was a bit forced…
Otherwise, you end up with something as wholly unsatisfying as Will Smith’s “I, Robot”, which was LITERALLY Asimov-In-Name-Only. I’ll never forget seeing the first trailer for that movie and hearing my jaw hit the ground as I saw Smith being attacked… *ATTACKED*… by hordes of robots. The brilliance of Asimov was shown time and time again, when he came up with a wealth of stories that posited mysteries or philosophical dilemmas that were held WITHIN THE CONFINES of the Three Laws. The movie, in a typical Hollywood simplistic manner, simply just did away with them as necessary.
Sorry for the rant. I’m a bit fanatical when it comes to the Good Doctor!