We finally saw the nearly three hour film Australia last evening after a drive out to tour Red Hawk Casino, and then dinner - peel & eat shrimp and “lazyman” cioppino - at Powell’s Steamer Co. & Pub in Placerville. Ran into our friend Candy there listening to live jazz. Yep, we covered a lot of ground but it felt good to blow off a little work related pressure and do something we don’t often get time for. Kind of a double feature weekend!

The film is a romantic action-adventure set in northern Australia prior to World War II and centers on an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) who inherits a ranch the size of Maryland. When English cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn drover (Hugh Jackman) to drive 2000 head of cattle across hundreds of miles of the country’s most unforgiving land, only to still face the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese forces that had attacked Pearl Harbor only months earlier.

The film wasn’t in wide release for long, so many of you may have passed it by. But if it’s still playing in your area - we had to drive out the the Century on Greenback, the only theater still showing it here - make a point to catch it on the big screen. A special treat: the kid who narrates the story and plays the half Australian Aborigine boy that is more or less adopted by Kidman’s character. He is wonderful!

Dawn and I just got back from seeing Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino. Once again, the old man turned in both solid direction and an Oscar worthy performance. The film contains sufficient humor to take the edge off and delivers a good message about life, setting it apart from other revenge movies. We also chose to watch it in digital cinema format (no film!) which further enhanced our viewing experience. If DLP (Digital Projection) is offered at your theater, opt for it.

Another movie trailer mash-up from Blinks. Coming soon to a theater near you…

In 2006, American stand up comedian and juggler Chris Bliss enjoyed widespread fame when an online video of his juggling finale became a viral internet sensation. The five minute video shows his energetic finale where he juggles three balls to Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End by The Beatles. It was widely circulated via email and blogs with an estimated 20 million viewings within 40 days. He later expanded his brief juggling act to include stand up comedy.

The first video below offers a taste of Chris’ “Smart Comedy for the Information Age” act, and the second is the juggling finale that made him famous. Sit back and enjoy!

HT: Michael

As Arthur C. Clarke told us, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” So think of Irish magician Keith Barry as a technologist, an elite software engineer of the human brain. Witty and direct, he celebrates human cleverness even while he’s hacking it.

In this 2004 TED presentation in Monterey, California, Barry shows us how our brains can fool our bodies. Then he involves the audience in some jaw-dropping (and even a bit dangerous) feats of brain magic.

At just under 20 minutes, you may think it a bit long. But I believe, once you get into it, you’ll be hooked. Enjoy!

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It began in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes). The TED website makes the best of these available to the public. Free.

It’s the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to.

Neil Patrick Harris…..as Dr. Horrible
Nathan Fillion……….as Captain Hammer
Felicia Day…………..as Penny

And a cast of dozens!

Joss Whedon began writing his musical web series (watch the teaser below), with the help of all his relatives and friends, during the writer’s strike, then streamed the first three acts, free, on the official web site (not to be confused with the official fan site). The “free streaming broadcast” part is no more, but they are available on iTunes and, in the not-too-distant future (before Christmas) the complete short epic will be available on DVD. It’ll be legen….wait for it….dary!

P.S. At great personal risk, I was able to obtain this copy of “The Master Plan”, secretly penned by Joss Whedon in a dark, scary secret cave somewhere (but not the Bat Cave. This one’s shown at the beginning of the teaser, I think) that will explain the whole twisted, diabolical scheme. Read it! Be safe!

Dawn and I saw “Wanted” (James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman) Sunday. It was just released June 27th so I won’t be a spoiler. Suffice it to say that Angelina Jolie is stunning as always. That said, I gave the movie just three stars.

First, you should know that the film is based on Mark Millar’s dark comic (excuse me, graphic novel) series. Without giving away too much, it tells the tale of an apathetic nobody’s (read disaffected, cube-dwelling drone’s) transformation into an unparalleled enforcer of justice. It mixes a little of The Matrix, a bit of X-Men and Da Vinci Code, and a splash of Hellraiser, and delivers a fun, albeit reheated, ride.

The result straddles the narrow line between silly and plausible, using ample visual effects to trick you into lowering your expectations and settling for little more than a fun ride, and then hits you with plot twists that make you think, “Whoa.” Or at least, “Huh?”

The plot has its share of gaping holes, but for those who like shutting off their brains but discovering they might be thinking deeply anyway, Wanted is a worthy diversion. It’s not nearly as complex as it pretends to be, but did I mention that Angelina Jolie is stunning? Just don’t bring the kids (bloody violence, language) and don’t drink a big soda; the movie is an hour and 50 minutes long.

I wasn’t able to get this ready in time to make it a Patriot’s Journey post, but for those of you unable to attend our 48th Annual Folsom Pro Rodeo July 3-5, I thought I’d share a couple video clips via MyFolsom.com to give you a taste of the event.

As in past years, the rodeo began with Kent Lane, skydiver extraordinaire, dropping into the arena each night trailing a 2,000 square foot American flag. During a short free-fall from 4,500 feet, Lane spoke to the audience via helmet-mounted radio, then deployed his canopy and guided the huge flag to a soft landing in the middle of Dan Russell Rodeo Arena where a waiting ground crew whisked it from the ground before it touched, all to the sound of Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American.” I’ve seen it done many times and it always makes my chest swell and brings a lump to my throat.

The second clip if of a bronc rider having what looks to be a pretty good ride. Sorry, I don’t have his name. And, as always, the rodeo was preceded on July 2 by the annual longhorn cattle drive down Sutter Street in historic Folsom. We missed it this year, but here are a few photos (click to enlarge) from a prior year.

There are more images in this album.

Ever watch Dilbert, the TV version of the well known Scott Adams comic strip? This is a Dilbert “minisode”, a five minute short, but you can watch full length TV shows as well on this site.

It’s called Hulu, a website that offers free, high-quality streaming video of TV shows and movies, primarily from NBC and FOX and their cable networks. It’s supported by occasional commercials (sorry, but at least they’re short) and provides higher viewing quality than YouTube, even some offerings in HD. Miss an episode of The Office or House? Catch it here!

Sorry, no downloads, but if you’ve got an Apple iTV, you can probably stream to your big screen. How cool is that?

One of the great things about Americans is the way we all get cranked up for Independence Day. It’s a big event for most, with parades, BBQs and spectacular fireworks shows!

Californians for the most part stayed away from “real” fireworks this year because of the extreme fire danger — we’ve already had more than 1700 wildfires throughout the state precipitated by dry lightening and high winds, so our Governator asked that we not buy fireworks in order to help prevent even more. But many of the usual controlled exhibitions went off as scheduled including northern California’s largest at Cal Expo in Sacramento. Here are a few more images (click to enlarge):

We were blessed this year with cooler temperatures — we call anything less than 106° “cooler” — so Dawn and I took in the annual East Sacramento “Fab 40s” parade followed by lunch on the patio at Rio City Cafe in Old Sacramento. There was a nice breeze and we relaxed watching the boats cruising the Sacramento River. What began as a lousy day for me turned out to be a pretty darn good Independence Day!

This is my final “official” Patriot’s Journey post for 2008 although I’ll continue to photograph and write about this great land of ours as the mood strikes me. If you’d like to re-read any of my previous “Patriot’s Journey” posts, click on “archives” in the navigation bar on the right, then click on “Patriot’s Journey” and you’ll be directed to all of them. And I’m sure my fellow journeyers — Drumwaster, Larry at The Bastage, the folks at The Line Is Here and Shortbus from The Edge of Reason — would appreciate a visit, too. I’ve enjoyed participating in this year’s journey with some terrific bloggers and hope to do it again next year. ‘Til then, God bless America!

“I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.” - George Carlin

A groundbreaking observational comedian and a flat-out great storyteller, George Carlin died yesterday of heart failure at age 71. Known for his edgy, provocative material, he was shocking, irreverent and hilarious, yet somehow made you question things you thought you knew.

The last vote that George Carlin said he cast in a presidential race was for George McGovern in 1972. And when Richard Nixon, who Carlin described as a member of a sub-species of humanity, overwhelmingly defeated McGovern, the comedian gave up on the political process.

But while he may have stopped voting in 1972, America’s most consistently savage social commentator for the better part of a half century didn’t give up on politics. He read the papers, followed the news, asked questions and turned it all into a running commentary that focused not so much on politics as on the ugly intersection of power and economics. He didn’t want Americans to get involved with the system; he wanted citizens to get angry enough to remake the system.

Needless to say, he was not on message for 2008’s “change we can believe in” election season. No, his was a darker and more serious take on the crisis and the change of consciousness — sweeping in scope and revolutionary in character— that was required to address it. Like the radicals of the early years of the 20th century whose politics he knew and respected, he believed that free-speech fights had to come first. He always pushed the limit, happily choosing an offensive word when a more polite one might have sufficed.

By 1972, the year he won the first of four Grammys for best comedy album, he had developed his most famous routine: “Seven Words (You Can’t Say on Television).” That summer, at a huge outdoor show in Milwaukee, he uttered all seven of them in public — and was promptly arrested for disturbing the peace. When a version of the routine was aired in 1973 on WBAI, the Pacifica Foundation radio station in New York, Pacifica received a citation from the FCC and was ordered to pay a fine for violating federal regulations prohibiting the broadcast of “obscene” language. The ensuing free-speech fight made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled 5-4 against the First Amendment to the Constitution, Pacifica and Carlin. Amusingly, especially to Carlin, a full transcript of the routine ended up in court documents associated with the case, F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978).

There will, of course, be those who dismiss him as a remnant of the sixties who introduced obscenity to the public discourse — just as there will be those who misread his critique of the American political and economic systems as little more than verbal nihilism. In fact, George Carlin was, like the radicals of an earlier age, an idealist — and a patriot — of a deeper sort than is encountered very often these days.

Carlin explained himself best in one of his last interviews. “…I don’t consider myself a cynic. I think of myself as a skeptic and a realist. But I understand the word ‘cynic’ has more than one meaning, and I see how I could be seen as cynical. ‘George, you’re cynical.’ Well, you know, they say if you scratch a cynic you find a disappointed idealist. And perhaps the flame still flickers a little, you know?”

This is a Patriot’s Journey post. You may also enjoy visiting the other journeyers: Drumwaster, Larry at The Bastage, the folks at The Line Is Here and Shortbus from The Edge of Reason…

If you’re in the Sacramento area tonight or tomorrow night, drop by The Wrangler in Elk Grove and catch these guys…

Listen to a track or two on their site; I especially like the cut, “Whiskey Dawn”…

Pulpbard is an open project on wikispaces I know at least a couple of you won’t be able to resist. Of course, if you haven’t seen the film classic Pulp Fiction, none of what follows will make any sense to you…

“Welcome to the Pulp Shakespeare Project, devoted to the reconstruction of William Shakespeare’s play A Slurry Tale, which curiously resembles Quentin Tarantino’s film Pulp Fiction. There is no way to stop this from happening, so this wiki exists to ensure that it is done well, or as well as it can be.”

Forsooth, two memorable scenes originating, as near as I can tell, on Kevin Pease’s LiveJournal, written as the Bard himself might have written them (were he the screenwriter which, of course, he wasn’t, but I’m just sayin’…):

ACT I SCENE 2. A road, morning. Enter JULES and VINCENT, murderers.

Vincent:  And know’st thou what the French name cottage pie?
Julius:     Say they not cottage pie, in their own tongue?
Vincent:  But nay, their tongues, for speech and taste alike
                 Are strange to ours, with their own history:
                 Gaul knoweth not a cottage from a house.
Julius:     What say they then, pray?
Vincent:  Hachis Parmentier.
Julius:     Hachis Parmentier! What name they cream?
Vincent:  Cream is but cream, only they say la crème.
Julius:     What do they name black pudding?
Vincent:  I know not;
                 I visited no inn where’t could be bought.

ACT 1 SCENE 8.2. Your pardon; did I break thy concentration?

“Green Porno is a series of very short films conceived, written, co-directed by and featuring Isabella Rossellini. Inspired by the amazing and often bizarre sexual practices of insects and other creatures, these eight films are both comical and insightful studies of the curious ways a variety of earth’s tiny critters “make love”. Simple, playful and childlike by design, Green Porno provides a unique and provocative glimpse into an “underground” world of sexual encounters.” …

Or so the official Green Porno website, still under construction, promises. It’s difficult to imagine actress, model and film director Rossellini mounting a giant paper bug, but I’m on the site’s mailing list to get a heads up when it’s completed and the eight short films, designed for viewing on cell phones and small screen devises, are viewable.

So, why did I post about it today, you ask? Well, I thought it would be interesting to see how many people Googling “porno” would find their way to my site. Call it a silly experiment.

If you like flight simulators, you’ll enjoy this application I just learned about from Michael. Called FlightGear, it’s open-source, so as long as you abide by the terms of the license, you’re free to download, use and share it.

And while it may be free, don’t think for a moment that it’s not full featured. Professional polish and attention to detail are evident in flight variables like wind effects and real-time day/night. That’s the beauty of open-source—programmers around the world contribute to a project.

Flightgear includes real-world scenery taken from photographs and comes with the San Francisco area pre-installed. But you can visit the FlightGear Web site to get additional settings from around the world, including thousands of real airports.

FlightGear runs on Windows, Mac OS-X, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris and IRIX platforms allowing the user to “fly” their platform of choice. If you’re a flight-sim enthusiast, give it a try. New challenges keep your flight-sim skills honed, and you sure can’t beat the price!