Rogue Ponderance

So, I listen to a lot of podcasts.  I've been listening to Kevin Smith's (and Scott Mosier's) "Smodcast" since the beginning.  I also listen to "Fatman on Batman", "The Nerdist", "The Thrilling Adventure Hour", and "Still Untitiled: The Adam Savage Project".  Plus I've got several queued up for when I get caught up on "The Nerdist".

I'm only about 4 years behind on that one, but caught up on all of the rest.

Being mostly based on the nerd/geek community, most of these have been talking about Rogue One, and what come across universally is how good K-2SO voiced and motion-captured by Alan Tudyk is.  Something I'd seen that just makes me cackle is the following video with Tudyk relating how Anthony Daniels reacted to his portrayal:



But back in one of the podcasts, someone brought up a comparison C-3PO as a nervous wreck who spouts things in fits of cowardice while K-2SO says things because he has no filters.

And then I had a geek-piphany.

• K-2SO says things because he has no filters.
• K-2SO's loss of filters is because he was reprogrammed from being an Imperial droid to being given free will (of a sort).
• Some of the things the K-2SO spouts freely are the odds of an event's failure.
• C-3PO regularly spouts off the odds of an event's failure, in the original trilogy.
• C-3PO was reprogrammed after the end of Revenge of the Sith to blank his memory.

Now, sure, this is all easy to explain afterwards, but did the writers of Rogue One see that pattern, and write that in?

Some may scoff that anyone would be that detailed.  First off, to those people, have met Star Wars geeks?  Second, check out this bit from the Rogue One soundtrack by Michael Giacchino that fits so well against John Williams' "Imperial March".

And then think back to how cool it was to learn about Hans Zimmer using the Edith Piaf bit in all of the levels in Inception.

Yeah, you can never go deep enough.

Hearing the Martian

So, I take regular walks at work to keep from sitting all day.  I thought it would be good to listen to something other than music, so I've been catching up on my podcasts.  Until I started walking, I hadn't listened to podcasts since finishing fieldwork in Lodi.  You see, I like to read while on BART, and so I have music for that, and I would listen to podcasts while I was driving to and from Lodi.

Now my two main podcasts are Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier's "SModcast".  I've been listening to it pretty much since the beginning, and it's lots of fun.  However, I ran out of those.  I also listen to Kevin's "Fatman on Batman" in which he interviews people associated with Batman in movies, TV, and animation.  Lately it's become an overall celebration and chat about all things comic books with Marc Bernardin.  I have also recently run out of those as well.

So, I went looking and found out that Adam Savage does a podcast called "Still Untitled".  Now, it's not news that I really like "Mythbusters", so this just kind of follows along.  And this podcast is all kinds of fun.  My only complaint about it is that it is too short.  Or at least, it seems that way.

I've already written about Andy Weir's The Martian, but there is more to the story now.  Adam interviewed Andy in the video below:



And recently, I listened to the podcast spoilercast of The Martian.  I won't embed that one because if for some reason you haven't read it yet, and want to, the temptation to watch may be too strong.  Just remember that the movie opens Friday (tomorrow).  One of the things the guys brought up regarding how good the book is, is how great the audio book is.  You see, the majority of the book is written in first person journal format, and the act of having it read to you is a lot like hearing a real first person account of a tale.

So, I picked up the audio book.  It's about an 11 hour MP3.  I started it on Tuesday, and with travel to work, daily walks, and lunches and things, I have managed to be about 8.5 hours into it right now.  It took a bit of will power to get over personal the stigma of smiling, giggling, and snorting at the funny bits while I'm walking around the block in Walnut Creek or while on BART.  And those BART rides haven't all been just from MacArthur station to Walnut Creek, yesterday it was going through Oakland on the way to and from San Leandro.

If you can take the time, listen to the book.

And then tomorrow, go see the movie.

I'm a Smith-oholic

If you know me, you probably know that I'm a big fan of Kevin Smith.

I can't exactlr remember how I first heard about "Clerks" and "Mallrats", but it was likely through the beginnings of the Internet while I was in grad school.  I do remember that I rented those movies, and then went to see "Chasing Amy" in the theater.  I've seen all of the rest of the Jersey Chronicles in the theater since then.

When "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" came out on video, I had a marathon viewing for my birthday.  It was a small turnout, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  When "Clerks II" came out on my birthday weekend, a group of us went to see it.

And this week, while Jennifer has been traveling, I've watched one movie everyday.  Except for today, when I watched the last two.

Kevin Smith gets maligned a lot for his stuff.  But each movie he's done has been a specific type of movie: black-and-white indie, teen comedy, romance, action, road trip cartoony, and true sequel.  Then he's gone on to make others outside of that world, and in a year or so he'll be returning to it.

I'm not saying he's a cinematic genius, but he world is tight, deftly interwoven, entertaining.  Every one of the movies has at least one moment that still makes me laugh out loud.

I think tomorrow I'll re-watch "Red State".

Invasion of the Syrup

So I regularly listen to Kevin Smith's podcast "Smodcast".  (I may have said before, but the M in Smodcast is for Scott Mosier.)  And when I say I regularly listen, I mean that I'm many episodes behind.

So I was listening to one yesterday, and Kevin and Scott were talking about this article by Mark Hyman about the dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS).

Now, I've worked very hard in the past few years to get off of HFCS.  And of course it coincided with my cutting down on caffeine as well.  I had heard about the HFCS tricks you into remaining hungry after you've consumed it, but I didn't know about the other affects it has on a body.

I'm thinking that at this point, I'm going to be getting rid of anything with HFCS in it, and won't be getting any soda out of a fountain again.

The Mood

At this moment, none of my books are appealing to me.
I so enjoyed the other books about Richard Feynman, but the book I'm on now is not thrilling me.
I’m not really in a Lovecraft mood either, so that’s out.
I’ve read my comic up to the end of “Flashpoint”, and the newly re-launched “Justice League”, but for right now, that’s all I’ve got.
As I sit here and type, I look across the room at the bookshelf full of hardcover and trade paperback graphic novels.  Perhaps, I’ll pull on of those off the shelf.
***
On an unrelated note, Kevin Smith’s newest movie “Red State” is available on demand from just about every cable and/or satellite TV carrier.  I think it’ll be available through the month, and while it’s a departure of his normal stuff, it’s still a good movie.  It’s also very intense.

SMod-day

Today, Jennifer and I spent the day ding things in and around our home.

And then this evening, we went to the Vogue Theater to see a live SModcast recording.

We started with dinner at Osteria Cusina Toscana. It was a wonderful dining experience with great food at affordable prices, and a very efficient staff.

It was right across the street from the Vogue Theater. We overheard the couple who was eating next to us ask the waitress what the long line (that was going around the corner) was for. the waitress didn't know, but we shared that was for a director and producer of movies that we liked who were doing a live appearance. They asked what movies and we listed their works together. they actually knew about "Clerks" so that was cool.

The show itself was fun, and I look forward to hearing the SModcast that they make out of it.

Tomorrow, it's back to work, and hopefully a happier office than how we left it on Friday.

Porno... kind of

last night, Jennifer surprised me by saying that there was a 7:00 showing of "Zack and Miri Make a Porno".

It was nice and funny. In my mind not as good as the Jersey Chronicles, but still 4 out of 5 stars.

Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogan are fun to watch, and the rest of cast are really good.

I heartily recommend it.

Guilty Pleasure

A lot of people know that my favorite movie is "The Princess Bride". It came out my freshman year of college, and I saw it in the now defunct theater in Sun Valley Mall.

Close behind this singular movie are the Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings movies. And then after there are the Jersey Chronicles - the movies of Kevin Smith.

I am a big fan of Kevin. I remember watching "Clerks" on video for the first time in Kentucky while at graduate school. Then I rented "Mallrats", which while it was not as good as "Clerks", was entertaining. Then "Chasing Amy" came out and I caught it in theaters. And at that point I was hooked. So of course, I've seen "Dogma", "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back", and "Clerks 2".

Kevin Smith and his producer Scott Mosier are continuity geeks. Things in the movies overlap and intertwine, and while I am not any one of the characters in the movies, I can relate to many of them.

Other than the Jersey Chronicles, I've watched Kevin's one-on-one interview with Stan Lee, which was really a fun watch. And then for a real thrill there are "An Evening with Kevin Smith" and "An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder" where Kevin's talks at colleges around the country and Canada were recorded. There will soon be a third one which was filmed on his 37th birthday (yes, 37th), and hopefully will be released soon.

Two other movies which are so-so are "Jersey Girl" which is not as bad as it was made out to be, and "Catch and Release" which has Kevin in a role playing someone more like himself. It's all right, but not knee slapping funny.

And he is working on two new movies: "Zach and Miri Make a Porno" and "Red State". Zach and Miri is, obviously, comedy about an independent porno and stars Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks. "Red State" is a horror movie that I'm not very familiar with yet.

And I learn about all of the new stuff from Smodcast. Smodcast (Smith and Mosier Podcast) is usually Kevin and Scott rapping and joking about their lives and the movies, but once and a while Kevin's wife is there, or Jason Mewes, or some of Kevin's friends who work the two stores of Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash. It's been a fun addition to my music for the gym. Or like I did today, walking to Target.